The Path of a Guardian
by Kasumi96
Summary: During Ash and Paul's battle at the quarter finals of the Sinnoh League, an attack by a combination of villainous teams pulls Ash and his friends into their most dangerous adventure yet. This causes a deep power within Ash to awaken and now he must learn to control it while avoiding those who want to take it. Aura Ash. Multiple shippings. First fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first fanfiction so please bear with me. If you guys think this story has any potential please review and I'll continue otherwise I'll scrap it. I'm also looking for a beta reader so if you're interested shoot me a PM. This story takes place beginning at the Sinnoh league during the fourth match between Ash and Paul._

 **Chapter One: The first sign**

A man sat in a dark room behind a desk, the only light coming from a TV in the corner. On the screen was a pokémon battle. A young man with raven hair and a red and white baseball cap was shouting commands to his Pikachu as it battled against a strong looking Electivire whose trainer was a boy with purple hair and a serious expression. The MC's voice rang out " _Both trainers are down to their last pokémon and it's Pikachu vs. Electivire! Winner will move on to the semifinals of this year's Sinnoh league! Who will be the one to rise to the top?_ " using this as encouragement both trainers called out another attack and the fierce battle continued. The man smiled as he watched the trainers absorbed in their match, unaware of what was about to transpire.

….

The boy with the raven hair grit his teeth as Pikachu took another direct hit from Electivire's attacks. It was already worn out from its battle with Froslass earlier. He had hoped that his Infernape would be able to take down Paul once and for all but he'd taken too much damage in the last battle and went down easily when Paul had released his last pokémon.

"Electivire use Thunder Punch!" called out Paul. Ash's moment of distraction had cost him as Pikachu was hit once more, flying across the field and taking significant damage.

"Pikachu are you ok?!" Ash cried out to his partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu called out in reassurance but he was tired, he was almost at his limit and both Ash and Paul knew this. Now was the time for the final strike.

"Electivire Thunder Punch!" "Pikachu Volt tackle!" both trainers cried out at the same time. The two pokémon rushed at it each other, powering up their respective attacks, when suddenly something fell from the air and exploded between them. Black smoke began to spread over the field, and trainers and pokémon alike disappeared from view of the screaming crowd.

…

" _What's this? Black smoke has covered the whole field! I can't see anything! What has happened to the battle?!_ " The MC continued to narrate what was happening in the match.

"What's happening?" Dawn asked Brock fearfully as Ash and Pikachu disappeared from sight and were engulfed in a cloud of black smoke.

"I don't know Dawn" Brock honestly replied as he too searched frantically for any sign of their friend. Suddenly they heard shouts coming from all around them. Looking up they saw that many men and women from the audience had pulled off the clothes revealing black uniforms with a large 'R' on the front. They pulled out pokéballs and began fighting with the other trainers in the crowd. A few ran up to them and began demanding they hand over their pokéballs.

"What have you done to Ash?!" Dawn demanded as she too pulled out a couple pokéballs and released Mamoswine and Togekiss. Brock followed suite and released his Crogunk and Sudowoodo. The rocket grunts ignored her and started calling out attacks and the two friends were pulled into a fierce battle, all the while worrying about their raven haired friend who'd yet to reappear.

…

As soon as the smoke bomb hit Cynthia was on her feet and running down to the stairs in the direction of the field. In her hand she had her phone and was dialing as quickly as she could. It rang only once before a voice answered on the other side.

"Cynthia what's going on?" the voice asked.

"I don't know Lance. Ash and Paul were in the middle of their battle when a bomb came out of nowhere. I can't see anything." She spoke quickly as she ran down the maze of hallways heading to the exit which would lead to the bleachers.

"Yeah I saw that on the TV. The screen just suddenly went black. Everyone in all the regions is seeing this. Cynthia just how serious is this?" Lance asked knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

Cynthia finally made it to the exit and stepped into the main stadium at the top of the bleachers finally seeing the real damage. "More serious than either of us expected Lance. Get here now." With that she hung up and pulled out several pokéballs, ready to join the fight.

…

Ash's eyes and lungs burned as the smoke found its way inside him. He was coughing heavily and fumbled around, unsure what direction he was heading in. One moment he was battling Paul and the next something exploded and he couldn't see or breathe.

"Pikachu!" he tried calling before falling into another coughing fit. "Pikachu where are you?!" he desperately cried out, he tripped and fell to the ground, lying there for a moment as his head pounded. The smoke was making him feel light headed and sick. "Pikachu!" he tried calling again.

"Pikapi!" Ash's head whipped up in the direction of the weak reply, "Pikachu hang on I'm coming!" Ash picked himself up and began to move in the direction of the sound. Walking onto what he assumed was the middle of the battle field where he last saw his partner; he spotted Pikachu on the ground trying to cover its mouth with its paws. "Pikachu! I'm here!" He ran toward the electric mouse and fell on his knees; he gently picked him up and held him against his chest trying to protect him as best he could from the smoke. Ash looked around for Electivire but couldn't spot him anywhere. Hoping that Paul had already returned his own pokémon and made it out the smoke cloud Ash stood and began trying to make his way out when he heard a voice over the P.A system.

" _Hey you can't be in he-"_ the MC's voice began before he was cutoff and a new voice took over.

" _Attention! Team Rocket has taken over the league! All trainers will hand over their pokémon immediately!"_ All around him Ash could hear people screaming and yelling. Finally the smoke began to clear and Ash found himself standing alone in the middle of the field, and saw the whole stadium in chaos. Men and women in black uniforms with a large letter 'R' on the front were all over the place battling against all the trainers from the audience. Ash spotted his friends Dawn and Brock engaged in battles of their own and on the opposite side Paul had called out his Electivire again and was battling a grunt with a Houndour.

"Hey you!" Ash's attention was ripped away from the many battles and turned around to find the owner of the voice. A man with blue hair styled into two curved crescents was standing before him, hand outstretched like he was waiting for Ash to give him something. He was clearly with the group trying to take over the stadium but looked different from the others, his uniform was a different style, white and black with a 'G' printed on the front.

"You're from team Galatic!" Ash realized.

"Yeah what of it? Hand over your pokémon!" the man demanded.

"No way!" Ash angrily replied. "How can you do this? Return everyone's pokémon at once! Why are you with Team Rocket anyway?"

The man merely laughed in his face, "That's none of your business. All you need to know is that we're stronger than ever! Now do yourself a favour and give us your pokémon otherwise you'll regret it" he sneered.

"No." Ash said defiantly.

The man growled and pulled out a pokéball. "Salamance teach this brat a lesson", a flash of light erupted from the ball and formed into the large dragon Pokémon. It stood before Ash, huge and intimidating, and let out a roar. Pikachu jumped from Ash's arms into a battle stance. The man appeared unconcerned with Pikachu's challenge and continued to speak "does this change your mind?"

Ash glared at the man, "are you in charge? Call off all your grunts and leave!"

"I see that you can't be persuaded otherwise" the man huffed. "Fine. Then we'll make an example out of you." Grabbing a mic attached to his shirt that Ash hadn't noticed before he began to speak. "Let this be a lesson to all who even attempt to defy us." The man's voice rang out across the stadium apparenty being connected to the P.A. system. Upon hearing him, all the battles ceased as everyone turned to look toward the lone trainer left on the field facing the Rocket. From the corner of his eye Ash could see Dawn and Brock calling out worriedly to him and Paul watching him intensely. "Anyone who disobeys will suffer the same fate as this young man." The man smirked menacingly, "Salamance! Hyper Beam." The man coldly commanded. Ash realized too late what he was doing and ran in front of Pikachu, spreading out his arms in a desperate attempt to shield his already injured partner.

"NO ASH!" screamed Dawn and Brock as they watched the attack head straight for their friend. Everyone stared in shock at what was happening, even the grunts who were supposed to be collecting the pokémon watched, unable to look away. Paul gazed at Ash unable to understand his actions before everything was consumed in a bright light.

…

Ash could feel the heat of the attack before it hit. He felt like he was on fire, burning all over. Pain consumed every part of his body as he screamed. He only hoped that his body was enough to protect Pikachu from the bulk of the attack. Then the burning feeling got more intense. It rose from his core and pushed outward with great force. His ears were ringing and he swayed on the spot. He could hear his friends calling to him but could only mutter "Pikachu" before his vision turned black.

…

The man grinned and laughed as his Salamance spewed a Hyper Beam from his mouth. That trainer, like his name, was ash. Suddenly a burst of light erupted from the spot where the trainer formerly stood. Then there was an explosion and the man used his arm to cover his face as dust threatened to enter his eyes. Looking up he saw his Salamance fly across the field, crashing into the wall behind him.

"What?!" the man stared at his KO'd pokémon in disbelief. Slowly he turned back to where the explosion occurred and, standing in the same place as he was only moments earlier, was the boy, his body surrounded by a blue glow. "What the hell?" who was this kid? He fingered another pokéball when his earpiece began to buzz.

" _Saturn. Come in Saturn_." A voice crackled.

"Saturn here."

" _New orders sir. Retreat immediately._ "

"What are you talking about? We can't retreat!" he argued into the mouthpiece.

He winced as the person on the other line yelled at him. " _Those orders come from the top commander!_ "

Obviously this was an issue that he and his team couldn't handle. He made the order to retreat and threw one more suspicious glare at the boy who still stood in the same place. A black blimp appeared over the stadium and he grabbed one of the many ropes that hung from the flying aircraft. The grunts all followed his example and recalled their pokémon and began to withdraw. As quickly as they had appeared, all the rockets including the galactic leader disappeared.

…

No one had moved the whole time Team Rocket had made their exit. The crowd's eyes lingered on the disappearing black blimp in the distance. A few however, were watching the trainer who had caused their retreat. Ash still remained standing, arms now by his side, with a dim glow around his body. Paul watched his rival suspiciously as the blue light surrounding Ash finally began to dissipate; he wondered how many other people had noticed the phenomenon. He noticed Cynthia, the Sinnoh champion, also staring intently at Ash from the bleachers. His eyes made their way back to Ash just in time to see him, now back to normal, sway on his feet and murmur something before falling forward and collapsing.

"Ash!" Dawn and Brock rushed to their fallen friend. Dawn dropped to her knees to listen to his heart "His heart is still beating we have to get him help!" She cried, tears streaming down her face. Brock nodded and looked up relived to see medics already making their way over. Remembering the reason why Ash was there in the first place Brock quickly searched for Pikachu. He was right where he was before the attack hit, safely hidden behind Ash. Pikachu was also knocked out but as Brock carefully checked over him he was relieved to see he was not seriously injured. That meant that Ash was the only one in immediate danger. What had happened anyway? All he saw was a bright light followed by an explosion. He thought that maybe Pikachu had launched a last minute Thunder attack to cause the explosion but he was still behind Ash so it couldn't have been him. He glanced at the ground around them and gasped. The ground was blackened in a perfect circle. Normal explosions don't do that. Brock glanced up at Ash with a worried expression. Just what had happened to his friend?

…

Back in the darkened room the man slammed his fist into the desk. His plans had been ruined. His eyes flicked back to the television screen and focused on the boy who'd collapsed onto the ground. Could what he saw have really been what he thought it was? He pressed the button on his comm. system "Archer, that boy from the match, find out who he is."

" _Sir?_ " the voice crackled from the other end.

"Just do it. The boy may be valuable to us."

" _Yes sir right away Giovanni_." The voice quickly replied, not wanting to annoy his boss any more. Giovanni smiled, although his original plans may have failed, he just might have found something much more promising.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to all those who reviewed! I decided to use POV's to make reading a little easier. I'll fix up the first chapter later._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own pokémon._

 **Chapter 2: A shocking wake up call**

– _Dawns POV_ –

Ash looked terrible. After he had collapsed Ash was immediately taken to the nearby pokémon centre where Nurse Joy took care of his injuries. She had wrapped bandages over his chest and head then hooked him up to a couple monitors to observe him which beeped steadily while he slept. Dawn had taken the seat next to the bed while Brock remained outside to talk to Nurse Joy. Thankfully the little mouse had only minor injuries that were quickly taken care of by Nurse Joy. Dawn's eyes wandered over Ash's body which was covered in bandages and she felt tears prick at her eyes again. Dawn had felt so helpless while everyone had scrambled to help in the aftermath of the attack. Brock had even remembered to take care of Ash's pokémon and get them all treated by Nurse Joy as well as call Ash's mom to let her know what was happening while she on the other hand had been left crying in the waiting room.

A creak at the door let her know Brock had re-entered the room. In his arms he carried Pikachu, now fully recovered.

"Pikapi!" it exclaimed upon catching sight of its trainer. Brock set the small mouse onto the foot of Ash's bed and it immediately tried shaking Ash's shoulder in an attempt to wake up the sleeping boy. When he didn't respond Pikachu's cheeks began to spark and, realizing what it intended to do, Dawn rushed over a picked up the pokémon.

"No Pikachu! Don't shock Ash!" "pika" the yellow pokémon dropped his ears in apology. She smiled and set him down again "He'll be ok" she reassured "just let him sleep a little longer". Pikachu nodded and instead took up a protective stance, guarding his precious trainer. Brock gave her a nod of approval and she sighed in relief. They both took a seat next to the bed and were silent for a moment before Brock began to speak.

"Did Cynthia talk to you too?"

Dawn nodded with a small frown. "Yeah. What do you think?"

Brock simply shook his head. "It's not like we can do anything about it. She's the champion, and she's under _his_ orders too. We'll just have to trust them and do what they say."

"Yeah but…" Dawn glanced back at Ash "can we really-" Dawn was cut off by a sudden beeping. Ash had begun to breathe much more heavily as sweat poured down his face and his eyebrows creased like he was in pain. His heart monitor was off the scale and his heartbeat climbed rapidly. "Oh no Ash!" Dawn cried out in worry.

Brock jumped to his feet "Ash! Nurse Joy come quickly! It's Ash!" he called out desperately. Ash had started groaning now and at his feet Pikachu whimpered in fear. Brock and Dawn were shouting Ash's name and Nurse Joy had still yet to appear. The beeping was still increasing until it was suddenly replaced by one long, continuous beep.

"ASH NO!"

"PIKAPI!"

– _Ash's POV_ –

Ash had no idea where he was. He was standing in darkness, there didn't appear to be any floor or walls or a roof, and worse still, he couldn't see or hear anyone else. He was alone.

"Pikachu! Dawn! Brock! Where are you?!" He tried calling out to his friends with no response. He remembered the explosion and, in alarm, looked down at his body only to see he was perfectly fine. In fact he felt no pain at all.

 _Am I dead?_ He thought to himself. This brought on a new onslaught of panic. _Oh crap I'm dead! I died! What about Pikachu? Please be ok. Oh god mom. This is gonna kill her! And Dawn and Brock. Dawn's so young she's gonna cry so much._

He felt like crying as he thought about his friends and the pokémon that he'd left behind. For a while he remained on his hands and knees mourning his life (which, although appears sort of self absorbed, seemed pretty appropriate to him at the time) but after what felt like hours Ash began to wonder what he was supposed to do now. Rising, he looked around at the blackness again. Was he supposed to cross over or something? Since there was no way to know which way to go he started walking in a random direction. This carried on for a while until he began hearing voices.

" _Ash!"_ " _Pikapi!" Pikachu?_ _Dawn?_ Maybe he wasn't dead after all. That or he wasn't the only one to kick the bucket. Hoping it was the former, he started to move in the direction the voices were coming from. They got louder and more frequent and he could recognize more of the voices.

" _Wake up Ash"_ That was Brock. " _Ash honey? Please wake up"_ another voice begged. _Mom?_ She was there too? He started walking faster and soon he was running. It wasn't long before he spotted a light in the distance; the voices were calling to him from the other side. They got even louder and started overlapping each other till it started to become painful. Ash clutched his ears and continued running toward his goal. The closer he walked to the light the more he began to feel. And boy did it hurt. The endless energy this place seemed to give left him. His body was starting to feel heavy as if he were dragging himself through mud, his chest felt constricted and his head was pounding. _I can't make it_. He was so tired. He just wanted to collapse. The more he thought about giving up the farther away the light seemed to be. He could still hear the voices of his friends calling to him.

" _Pikapi!" "Ash!" "C'mon Ash don't give up!" "You have to pull through" "ASH!" "PIKAPI!"_

"AHHHH!" Ash lay gasping as the electricity ran over his body. Sitting up quickly, he winced as a jolt of pain shot through his side and grabbed at his ribs. He barely had time to take in his surroundings when-

"Pikapi!" Pikachu joyfully jumped onto his trainer's chest and hugged him hard.

"Pikachu?" Ash looked down at his partner.

"Ash!" "Good to see you're finally awake" Ash looked up to see Brock smiling at him with a thumbs up and Dawn standing behind with a large grin and tears pricking at her eyes.

"Brock? Dawn? Wha?" the question couldn't leave his lips before a new wave of dizziness hit him and he swayed on the spot.

"Woah there take it easy" Brock grabbed Ash by the shoulders and lay him back down on his pillow. "Just rest for now you've been through a lot."

The door opened and Nurse Joy burst through. "What happened?" She demanded, out of breath. She looked Ash, now wide awake, in surprise. "Oh you're awake!" She quickly gave him a check over before nodding with satisfaction. "Seems you gave everyone quite a scare but luckily you had these guys watching over you." She rubbed Pikachu's head. "I'll be back soon. Here's something for the pain" The pink haired nurse injected something into one of the many tubes attached to Ash's arms. "This will help but you might feel a little sick. Try to rest a little more" with that she left the room to the three friends again.

Ash took a few deep breaths to try and quell the nausea "What… happened?" he managed to ask.

"You've been asleep for three days!" Dawn exclaimed. "You really had us all worried there Ask Ketchum! Your heart monitor…" the blunet gestured to the machine hooked into his arm. "It started beeping really rapidly. We thought… we thought…" she trailed off. Ash nodded in understanding. Dawn shook her head and finished "Then Pikachu gave you an electric shock and you woke right up! If we knew that was gonna work we would've tried it from the start!"

Brock glared at the younger trainer "we decided that was a bad idea due to his injuries" motioning to Ash for emphasis. It was only then that Ash took a proper look at his body and his eyes widened in surprise at the amount of bandages that covered him.

"How did…" He looked to his two friends questioningly.

The older boy creased his eyebrows and looked at Dawn worriedly."What do you remember?" He began slowly.

For a moment Ash racked his brain. He could remember his battle with Paul, then black smoke, then a man…

"I was hit by a hyper beam" Ash suddenly recalled.

Brock nodded. "Team Rocket tried to take over the league. They sent out hundreds of their cronies to try and steal all the pokémon. You were facing off their leader remember? Then all of a sudden the guy orders his Salamance to attack you!" Brock looked away from Ash in shame. "I… couldn't do anything. I just watched it happen."

Ash looked at his oldest friend, studying his face before reply with a sigh "It's not your fault Brock. No one could have. But… how'd I survive? That attack hit me straight on."

Brock shrugged "We don't know. There was an explosion, and by some miracle you and Pikachu were ok. Then Team Rocket decided to retreat. They didn't even steal one pokémon"

That was suspicious. Why did they just pack up and leave? Furthermore, how the hell was he still around? That attack should've blown him to dust for sure.

"Pikapi" The small mouse rubbed its head under his hand and Ash smiled, scratching his starter behind the ear.

"It was you right? You saved me just like before with the Spearow remember? That would explain the explosion. Your Thunder attacks are nothing to sneeze at right Pikachu?" Ash grinned.

"Chu Pikachu" The electric pokémon tilted his head in disagreement but his trainer didn't seem to notice.

"I heard you guys calling me." He smiled at his friends. "That's how I woke up, you guys kept calling to me and I found my way out. Where's my mom by the way? And Misty?" He was sure Misty was the last voice he heard before Pikachu shocked him. He looked around the room expectedly as if waiting for them to pop out from behind something and shout 'surprise! Welcome back!'

"Huh? What are you talking about? They're not here." Brock said confused.

"But I heard them!" Ash insisted "They called out to me just like you guys did! They have to be here. Are you guys playing a trick cuz that's not very nice considering I just woke up from a three day coma." He crossed his arms and pouted.

Brock and Dawn exchanged concerned looks. "Maybe you should rest a little more" Dawn said anxiously.

Ash shook his head aggressively. "No way I've been sleeping for three whole days. I've had plenty of rest!" He started to climb out of his hospital bed and both Brock and Dawn jumped to push him back down. "Guys! C'mon let me up!"

"No way Ash! You have to stay here!" They argued.

"But I wanna go see my mom why isn't she here and where's Misty?" He was starting to get annoyed. He just wanted to see them why were they making such a big deal?

"Ash they're not here!" Dawn finally screamed. Ash hesitated. "uhh…" Dawn blushed embarrassed.

"Ash they're still in Kanto. You were dreaming. They were never here, although your mom has been calling non-stop to check how you're doing. She didn't come here because as soon as you woke up we're all supposed to go back there." Brock quickly explained.

"Kanto? What? Why? What about the Sinnoh league? Why do we have to go back?" Ash asked one question straight after the other.

The door opened suddenly and the Sinnoh Champion stood in the doorway with a serious look on her face. "Because the league has some questions for you Ash Ketchum. We're taking you to see Lance."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

– _Ash's POV_ –

Ash leaned against the railing of the ship glaring at the water below. Pikachu opted for perching on the railing too rather than his usual roost on Ash's shoulder or head lest he hurt the still recovering trainer. His ribs still ached and for what felt like the millionth time he wished he wasn't where he was, if only to have an unending supply of morphine from Nurse Joy.

After Cynthia had told him about going to the plateau he'd thrown a sort of temper tantrum only to be told off by the champion (who was scarier than he'd like to admit) and so he, albeit begrudgingly, obliged and was now on his way to the Vermillion city dock, Kanto. Ash recalled the conversation that led him here, one that raised more questions than answered.

 _ **(Begin flashback)**_

" _We're taking you to see Lance!"_

 _Ash stared at the blonde, his mouth hanging open slightly._

" _Lance? Questions? Can somebody please tell me what the heck is going on?! Shouldn't you be chasing Team Rocket and Team Galactic rather than being here and making absolutely no sense at all? And what about the Sinnoh league?! I never finished my match with Paul!" He huffed in frustration._

 _Cynthia glared at him ready to spout a lecture about priorities when she backtracked what he'd said and furrowed her brows in confusion "Team Galactic? It was Team Rocket who attacked the league"._

 _Ash shook his head "No, well yeah they did but the guy who I was talking to, the one who did this" he gestured to himself and the champion held back a grimace "he was from Team Galactic. I recognized the different uniform. I'm pretty sure he was an executive of some sort as well"._

 _Cynthia looked deep in thought "hmm… a collaboration of criminal organisations? This changes things. All the more reason to bring you in. We'll give you another day of rest then you'll be discharged and we'll head straight to the Indigo plateau"._

" _Wait!" Ash began to protest again but Cynthia turned on him fiercely._

" _Do you understand what is happening here? The biggest criminal organisation of both Kanto AND Johto has crossed into Sinnoh's boarders and has possibly joined forces with OUR biggest criminal organisation. Do you know how much power they'll have? They already felt they could launch an assault on the Sinnoh league itself and it appears they didn't even come close to using all their resources. This could turn into a major battle even war. Do you really think the tournament would continue after an incident like this? Until this matter is resolved all other league activities will be put on hold and YOU will be coming to Kanto whether you like it or not do you understand?"_

 _Ash gulped and nodded his head. He'd never thought she could be this intimidating, although something about getting his head chewed off by a hot tempered woman felt familiar. The older woman nodded at his submission and turned to leave. She paused at the door and looked back with a more gentle expression "…I'm glad you're ok" with that she exited the room, closing the door behind her._

 _ **(End Flashback)**_

"Pikapi" Ash, disrupted from his thoughts, turned his attention to his best friend who looked at him in concern. "Pikaka pi chupi" which Ash supposed meant something along the lines of 'are you still mad?', knowing what Pikachu referred to, he reached out a hand and scratched him behind his ear.

"Don't worry buddy I'm ok. I'm just confused about what's going on. I don't understand why they're taking me all the way to Kanto just to question me about the attack when they could've done it at Sinnoh like they did with everyone else. Plus Dawn and Brock keep looking at me funny, I don't like it what do they know that I don't?"

"Pika chu Pikachu pi pika Pikachu"

Ash was totally lost on what Pikachu was trying to say now but he appreciated its efforts to cheer him up.

"Thanks buddy" he smiled at his trusty partner "c'mon lets go find the others we'll probably be there soon" Pikachu nodded in agreement and jumped down, padding beside him as they headed below deck.

– _Brock's POV –_

Brock hummed as he cut the various vegetables he planned on making a nice stew with. The cooks on the ship had tried to explain that they do all the cooking and there was no need for him to be in the kitchen but he had insisted and offered them to take a break so he could make lunch for everyone. In all honesty the cooking was just a distraction, he knew Ash was upset at the current situation and Dawn wasn't fairing much better. She had taken to staying in her room which Brock suspected was in order to avoid both Ash and Cynthia at all costs.

Hearing footsteps approach him from behind he called out without turning around "Seriously guys you don't have to worry I can handle the cooking you guys deserve a nice break! I'm making one of my specialties so you'll really enjoy it!

"Brock"

The knife in his hand froze as he recognized the voice and slowly turned around. Cynthia stood with her arms crossed, clearly intent on having this conversation whether Brock liked it or not. Reluctantly, Brock set down the knife and wiped his hands on his apron before hanging it up again. They both took a seat at the dining table and Brock waited patiently for Cynthia to explain herself but she only lent her elbows on the table and entwined her fingers together, resting them on her chin.

After several moments she began, "Brock how long have you known Ash?"

Brock looked up at her in surprise, not expecting this kind of question. "Well uhh… a few years now? Since he was 10. I met him not long after he started his first journey"

"His first journey? That was when he travelled Kanto and entered the indigo league correct?"

Brock nodded "yeah, he got up to the top 16 but during a battle against one of our friends, Ritchie, Ash's Charizaird decided taking a nap would be a better use of its time"

Cynthia chuckled at this but then her face turned serious again "Brock you've known Ash for a long time. That's good. We'll need you to answer some questions when we get to Kanto as well."

Brock creased his eyebrows "me? How come?"

The blonde struggled a bit before answering his question "Ash is… well Ash might be in a lot of trouble"

"trouble?"

"I can't explain anything to you. I don't even know much myself. Getting called in like this is highly unusual though. I _wanted_ to keep Ash in Sinnoh, but Lance wouldn't have it. He insisted that Ash be brought to him immediately. When I asked why, he said that it was beyond either of us."

"But what does that mean? Beyond either of you?" the Pewter city trainer asked.

Cynthia appeared deep in thought, "I'm not 100% sure but if I were to take a guess the only way for it to be beyond the power of two regional champions, including a duel regional champion like Lance, is if someone above our level gave the order."

"But… who could be above you guys? You're two of the most powerful pokémon trainers in the world! Even the league board can't over rule the decision of two champions." Brock argued.

Cynthia simply shook her head. "There is someone…" she murmured ominously. Brock cocked his head not understanding what she meant but before he could ask he heard another person approaching them.

"Man I'm starving Brock! Is lunch ready yet?" Ash whined as he entered the room, his hands stretched behind his head.

Cynthia threw Brock a look that clearly said 'don't say anything to Ash or I'll sick my Garchomp on you' so he quickly jumped up and got back to his cooking.

"Sorry Ash I got distracted talking to Cynthia about her pokémon" He lied hoping that he didn't appear too flustered. Luckily Ash didn't seem to find anything wrong with his reply and instead just sat down opposite Cynthia. The raven haired boy cast a curious glance at the champion who innocently smiled back. Ash turned away, while he didn't hold any resentment toward the champion he decided she at least deserved his sulking until they got there. Brock, trying to think of something to cheer up his long time travelling companion, suddenly came up with the perfect idea to distract the younger trainer.

"Hey Ash why don't we have a battle? It's been a while and I could use the training, they have a battle field on the top deck"

Ash perked up at this suggestion although he insisted they wait until after lunch lest he starve to death which would be the only way he'd lose to Brock.

Cynthia however had other ideas, "If you don't mind Brock I'd like to try battling him."

The two boys raised their eyebrows at the woman's sudden intrusion into the conversation. Brock turned to Ash and shrugged "it's up to you man, if you guys have it I'll I can always referee"

"Alright then" Ash turned towards Cynthia with fire in his eyes, "bring it on we'll beat you for sure this time! Oh but Brock we can battle later if you still want to get beaten" the boy grinned teasingly. Brock laughed and agreed, happy that his friend seemed to be back to normal. But this distraction would only work for so long and soon enough they'd be in Kanto and finally find out what the Lance and the league wanted with Ash.

 **Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry if the story is going a bit slow but we'll pick it back up next chapter when we see Ash and Cynthia's battle, get to Kanto and see Lance (and possibly some other favourite characters too!) And to JB, that's a good guess! Not even Cynthia is sure what the league wants with Ash, you'll just have to wait and see!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: An unexpected reunion**

– _Ash's POV –_

Ash and co made their way to the top deck for his battle against Cynthia. Brock had tried coaxing Dawn out of her room to watch the battle but she remained in her room claiming that she wasn't feeling well. Ash pretended that he didn't care but was a little hurt that his friend still refused to see him. It wasn't his fault they had to go to Kanto, he thought she'd at least be excited at the prospect of going to a new region and seeing all of his other pokémon. He shook off these thoughts as they reached the end of the corridor, pumping himself up for what was to come.

They arrived at the battle rooms and Ash eagerly pushed open the doors and marveled at what he saw. Light illuminated a huge field, almost as large as the ones used in the official stadium matches. There were television screens propped up on either side of the field which would display each trainer and their pokémon. They even had a huge grand stand for spectators.

"Wow this is awesome!" he exclaimed in awe.

"This is my actually personal ship; I use this when I need to travel for privacy reasons and because it provides the needs for my intense training. Although I let the public use it as well and sometimes hold exhibition matches hence the large seating area." She explained. As if to emphasize this, Cynthia used a speaker in the corner of the room to announce over the PA that a battle was about to commence and all crew and passengers were invited to watch.

"You don't mind do you?" Cynthia asked.

"Of course not! I'm happy to have more people cheer me on to win!"

"Sorry Ash but I don't think that'll be the case here" Brock laughed as Ash pouted. Slowly, the stands began to fill with deck hands, cooks and even random citizens who were also headed for Kanto, until soon enough almost everyone on board was seated. Much to Ash's dismay they were indeed cheering for their beloved champion but this only seemed to fuel his determination further.

"How about a one on one battle?" Cynthia suggested.

"Sounds good to me! Infernape and I are gonna crush you!"

Cynthia shook her head. "Actually I was wondering if you'd use Pikachu instead" she said pointing to the yellow mouse.

Brock gave her an inquisitive look however Ash readily took up the challenge. "Sure! Any one of my pokémon is fine, they're all fired up!"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed in agreement.

"Very well then" Cynthia smiled "Brock would you please referee?"

"Why of course my lady and may I say how beautiful yo-" Brock wasn't able to finish his new declaration of love as Croagunk released himself and struck him with a poison jab.

The others sweat dropped at Brocks antics but the familiar scene made the tension in the room lessen a little more.

Ash walked to one side of the field and bent down so he was eyelevel with Pikachu. "Ok buddy, Cynthia is real strong so do your best ok? She's got the advantage in power so we'll have to rely on our unique strategies and your speed. I know you can do it!"

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu made a fist pumping motion which Ash answered with a firm nod. The two turned to face Cynthia who was already waiting with a pokéball in her hand.

Brock stepped up with a flag in hand, "This will be a one on one unofficial match between Champion Cynthia and trainer Ash Ketchum! No time limit! Begin!"

"Go Pikachu!" Pikachu ran forward onto the field, cheeks sparking with anticipation.

"Go Garchomp!" Cynthia threw her pokéball and her trademark battler appeared onto the field. It was a dragon-like pokémon coloured primarily dark blue, with a red underbelly that covered from the middle of its abdomen, to its jaws, and then to the undersides of its arms. It also had a splash of gold on its lower stomach and snout. Covered in fins and spikes, it definitely made the list of scary looking pokémon in Ash's book.

"Garrrr!" the dragon/ground type growled. Ash grit his teeth. Garchomp's ground type characteristic would negate all of Pikachu's electric attacks. This definitely put them at a disadvantage. They needed to even out the playing field.

"Pikachu start off with agility!" Ash commanded. Pikachu began racing around the field, moving so fast that it looked like it disappeared from one spot and reappeared in another.

Cynthia nodded in approval. "Boosting your speed even further is a good strategy, but not good enough! Garchomp use sandstorm!"

Sand billowed over the field stopping Pikachu in its tracks as it looked around confused. "Keep calm Pikachu and try to listen for Garchomp's movements!" Ash encouraged.

Pikachu stood still, ears pricked upwards in an attempt to locate the bipedal land shark. Pikachu's ears twitched as Garchomp suddenly burst through the ground and struck with a sneaky dig attack. Pikachu managed to move at the last second to avoid serious damage but was still hurt as its side was scratched.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out in worry. Pikachu stood up again and resumed its battle stance, ready to go again. Ash sighed in relief, "Ok try irontail!"

"Counter that with brick break!"

Pikachu's tail and Garchomp's claw both glowed as they rushed toward one another, dodging and striking when the opportunity presented itself. Finally the two attacks clashed and an explosion threw Pikachu to the ground while only pushing Garchomp back a few steps.

Ash bit his lip in concentration. Pikachu would´ve taken a lot of damage from that explosion while Garchomp looked like it wasn´t even close to being tired yet. He needed to deal some heavy damage and fast.

"Pikachu quick attack into double edge!"

Pikachu once again rushed toward Garchomp only this time it slammed into the land shark pokémon heavily, dealing damage to both.

Ash smiled triumphantly but it disappeared quickly when he saw Garchomp growling fiercely at Pikachu. It had taken damage but clearly not enough to impede it in anyway.

"Garchomp use dragon rush!" the dragon flew toward Pikachu and landed a critical hit. Pikachu was panting heavily, he'd taken too much damage and hadn't dealt enough back.

"Pikachu try a quick attack!"

Pikachu increased its speed as it tried to knock over the larger pokémon but Garchomp simply dodged every single one of its attacks and retailed with a few of its own. Ash could hear the audience cheering in the background as their champion's pokémon looked on the verge of winning. He growled frustratingly, this wasn't looking good at all and he was running out of time before Pikachu couldn't take anymore. It was time to finish this.

"Pikachu use thunderbolt!"

Everyone was surprised by Ash's mistake. Surely he knew that electric type attacks wouldn't be effective against a ground type like Garchomp? However they watched as Pikachu's attack was directed at something else entirely, itself. Pikachu was surrounded by electricity, giving it a major power boost. Cynthia realized what Ash's intention was but saw his efforts were fruitless.

"Enough! Garchomp use Dragon claw!" Cynthia ordered. Garchomp launched an assault of attacks at Pikachu who stopped charging itself to dodge.

"Pikachu use volt tackle!"

Cynthia still couldn't understand Ash's plan. Sure he'd charged Pikachu up with the self thunderbolt but a volt tackle still wouldn't have an effect on Garchomp.

Pikachu sped toward its opponent surrounded by a bright shield of electricity, much larger and moving faster than usual. "Now Pikachu switch into irontail!" Ash commanded. Faster than anyone could believe Pikachu was in front on Garchomp, tail growing, and landed a strike right atop of its head.

The thunderbolt was to boost Pikachu's _speed_ during the volt tackle not power Cynthia realized _._ It had dealt heavy damage to Garchomp, she'd never expected Ash to get this far. She looked up at the trainer to compliment his tactics but stopped when she saw he was clutching his chest and breathing quite heavily. Her eyes narrowed as she thought she saw his eyes flash with blue. Brock also noticed Ash's predicament and raised his flag once more. "Both pokémon are too tired to continue. This match is a draw!" . The audience began to complain at such quick ending to an intense battle but the older boy ignored their jeers and immediately rushed to his friend.

"Ash are you alright?!" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine" Ash wheezed. His chest was burning again, it felt tight and breathing felt like a huge effort. "I just got a little excited is all, I keep forgetting I'm still injured. You shouldn't have called off the battle we were about to win" he tried to shake it off with a chuckle but sat down when standing was too much for him.

"You can't continue to battle in this condition" Brock scolded, Cynthia nodded in agreement.

"He's right Ash I'm sorry, I should've realized this was difficult for you in your condition" Cynthia apologized.

Ash shook his head. He didn't want to be treated like he was fragile. Already his head was clearing up and the burning in his chest was settling down.

"I'm fine really!" he insisted. He stood back up and dusted off his pants feeling foolish for worrying everyone when it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu rushed up to his trainer and crawled up to his shoulder, seemingly having decided Ash was healthy enough to resume his usual post.

"Pikapi Pikachu pika"

"I'm ok Pikachu. You did great! I'm sorry we couldn't finish the match"

"pika"

Cynthia put a hand on his shoulder in comfort "it was a good battle. But it would have ended soon anyway"

Ash scowled. "I could've beaten you Pikachu was just about to-"

Cynthia laughed cutting him off. "No I mean that we're almost there"

The two Kanto natives looked up and Ash immediately ran for the exit and rushed to the railing. Sure enough, on the horizon lay Vermillion's port. He was so close to home.

"Well Pikachu, we're back."

"chu"

The two stayed in that position, watching as their homeland came closer until the ship reached port.

– _Dawn's POV_ –

Dawn sat on her bed, knees drawn to her chest thinking guiltily about how she'd turned down the offer to watch Ash's battle against Cynthia. She knew she was being stupid; there was no reason to avoid Ash. He hadn't done anything and had no idea why she even _would_ avoid him. But still… she shuddered at the memory of the events at the league and seeing Ash in that hospital bed.

When Cynthia had talked to her and Brock and told them they were going to Kanto she protested at first but the look in the champion's eyes shut her in silence. To think that this went _beyond_ even her… Dawn never really understood the league and its politics. In fact she feared it a little. They had more power than people realized and it was being demonstrated right now as they recalled Ash to his homeland. They had no right! She pondered over why they wanted him to return so badly and what they could possibly need to ask him that couldn't have been done in Sinnoh.

A sudden burst of light from her bag alerted her to Piplup who had, once again, released itself from its pokéball.

"Piplup!" it announced then, realizing that no one had come to greet it, jumped onto the bed and prodded his trainer with its small fins.

"Piplup pip!"

"Huh? Oh Ash, Brock and Pikachu are somewhere on the ship. Ash is battling Cynthia again."

"Piplup pip piplup!" Piplup waved its arms around trying to communicate its thoughts with its trainer. Dawn furrowed her eyebrows, she never could really get the hang of understanding her pokémon talk, she couldn't see how Ash always seemed to know exactly what Pikachu was saying.

"PIPLUP PIP PIPLUP!" Piplup tried again with much more force.

"You… want to go watch?" Dawn asked hesitantly. Piplup nodded in affirmation, happy that it'd been able to get her to understand.

"Oh umm… they're probably almost done and…" Dawn trailed off having no real excuse NOT to go watch. Piplup made an angry expression, mad that she wasn't being her usual cheery self. The blue penguin jumped off the bed and began digging into her bag.

"Piplup what are you doing?" Dawn asked "If you're hungry I can go down to the kitchen and make you some food but quit digging around in there you're gonna mess up my clothes!" Piplup however came back out with a satisfied expression, holding what what clearly been its goal all along.

"Pom poms?" Dawn stared at the pink puffs and smiled.

"You're saying we should go cheer for our friends"

Piplup rapidly nodded it's head and held out the pom poms which Dawn took gratefully. Now satisfied Piplup puffed out his chest and patted it with its fin.

"Thanks Piplup, you're absolutely right! We should go cheer Ash on, who cares about everything else no need to worry!" with that Dawn quickly changed into her cheering outfit and rushed out the room.

…

 _Great where am I?_ Dawn thought as she turned another corner. In her excitement to go see Ash's match she hadn't thought about where she actually need to go and hence had gotten herself hopelessly lost. Piplup had gotten quite squirmy after the first 5 minutes of looking so she'd returned him to his pokéball in order for some peace to find her destination but it didn't seem to really help any.

This was getting frustrating. At this rate she would miss the match altogether! Then she thought she heard sounds of cheering down the hall to her left, _yes! Found it!_ She thought excitedly. She rushed down the hall and turned the corner only to crash into someone else. They both fell to the floor and Dawn landed hard on her behind.

"Ouch! " Dawn rubbed her tailbone wincing.

"Watch it troublesome"

Dawn looked up in surprise to see Paul standing up, dusting off his pants with his usual frown on his face.

"Paul? Wha? HEY THE NAMES DAWN! D-A-W-N!"

"Tch. Whatever." Paul put his hands in his pockets and began walking away in the direction Dawn had come from.

That jerk didn't even help her up! A scowl plastered itself on Dawns face as she pushed herself up and ran after the broody trainer.

"Paul wait up! What are you doing here?" She asked curiously. She knew that there were other passengers on their way to Kanto on the ship but seeing Paul was totally unexpected. She thought after the incident he'd gone back home or travelled somewhere quiet to train until they took the Sinnoh league off hiatus.

Paul ignored her and continued walking. Aggravated by his actions Dawn stalked straight past him and stopped right in front of him, arms stretched out to block his path.

"What do you want?" he asked irritated.

"I asked you a question. What are you doing here?"

The purple haired trainer stared coldly at her but she just stared right back unswayed by expression. Knowing she wasn't going to budge until he indulged her Paul sighed.

"I was asked." He answered simply and tried to duck under the smaller girl's arms but she wouldn't have it.

"By who? Why aren't you in Sinnoh? Why would you need to go to Kanto?" she demanded. She wasn't about to let him get away without answering her questions. This had something to do with Ash she knew it and she was going to do whatever it took to find out and hopefully protect him from further harm.

"Cynthia asked. I have to go to the Indigo Plateau to answer some questions same as you and the idiot right?" hoping that answer would satisfy the bluenette. Dawn's eyebrow twitched at Paul's casual insult to her friend but let it slide.

"Why would they need you to answer questions? They questioned everyone else at the league in Sinnoh."

"The same reason you and the pervert are tagging along with _him_." She raised an eyebrow at Paul's nickname for Brock, almost giggling but held it in due to the seriousness of the conversation.

"We're tagging along because we're his _friends_ , I couldn't say the same for you" she said pointedly.

"It's not because you know him better than anyone else and maybe they want to question you too?" Dawn was stunned at his question. She'd never even thought of that. She'd just assumed Cynthia was ok with her and Brock tagging along for support but were they really going to be questioned too?

"Why do they want to question Ash in the first place? He didn't have anything to do with the attack on the league!" she protested.

"C'mon don't act like you didn't see anything. Ash shouldn't have survived that hyper beam attack. They want to know why he did. You saw it too right? I saw you staring at him." He glared at her and she avoided his eyes, suddenly feeling shy.

"I…" she couldn't reply. She wasn't sure what she'd seen. She was so worried about Ash when he collapsed and then with the whole situation of going to Kanto she'd avoided thinking about it as well as avoiding Ash himself.

Taking her silence as a sign that the conversation was over, Paul lowered her arm and continued walking.

He stopped and then called out behind him "they drew."

"huh?" she looked up at him not understanding what he meant.

"You were on your way to see them battle right?" using his eyes to indicate toward her pink cheering outfit that she'd forgotten she was wearing until that moment. Dawn turned bright red as if she'd eaten a tamato berry.

"uhh yes umm" she fiddled with her skirt suddenly flustered with her appearance. "they drew?"

Paul nodded "He didn't look good so they stopped the battle and the older one called it a draw. He's ok though." Paul turned again not looking at her face. Dawn wondered at the boy, surprised that he was reassuring her like this.

"I see. No need to worry then!" she said cheerfully, although Paul gave her a sort of weird look and continued walking. She watched him walk away for a few moments before turning around and running in the opposite direction, now eager to reunite with her friends and see a new region for the first time.

 **Yes I know I said we'd see Lance in this chapter but it didn't really fit in after I'd decided to reintroduce Paul so it'll be next chapter I promise! Thank you for all the new reviews, favourites and follows! You guys are the best! Please review and I'll see you next week!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Two kinds of meetings**

– _Ash's POV –_

His arrival at Vermillion did not go as Ash expected.

Once the ship had docked Ash practically leapt off board in his excitement. He hadn't been home in a long time and being in Vermillion City was bringing up some serious nostalgia. It was just as he remembered; he could taste the salty air and hear the ships horn blare as it called for the next round of passengers. The streets were bustling with people and pokémon alike, he spotted the GYM; home of the famous electric specialist gym leader LT. Surge. _He was a tough opponent for sure_ Ash thought as he recalled their battle years ago when he had only just began as a trainer, between his little Pikachu and Surge's evolved and more experienced Richu. Pikachu had refused to evolve back then and chose to win using its own power upon its pride as an electric pokémon. He scratched his best friend's ears fondly at the memory.

"What do you think Pikachu should we go see Surge and Richu and see how they're doing?" he asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded enthusiastically on his shoulder.

"Ok then let's go!" Ash started to run toward the direction of the GYM but something clutched the back of his shirt preventing him from going any further. Cynthia stood, hand tightly gripping his collar and a stern expression.

"Sorry Ash no time we have to head straight to the Indigo Plateau from here"

"Aww" Ash whined, Pikachu mimicking his sound of disappointment.

Cynthia's eyes flittered to their surroundings and Ash finally noticed how much more crowded the dock was than usual. At first glance you would think that the people were all just tourists but something was off. Ash got the feeling of being watched and the hairs stood on the back of his neck. He looked closer at the people surrounding them. The man leaning on the railing, the woman playing with her Growlithe, the couple sitting in one of the nearby cafes; _they're all league agents_ Ash realized. Those were just the ones he'd noticed. There were probably many more. He made eye contact with Cynthia who nodded slightly and a silent message was passed between them. _Don't let the others know._

"Don't worry Ash, you'll get to go visit all your friends after we're done there" she pat his back acting like nothing had happened.

"y-yeah" he stuttered, still slightly alarmed at the intensity of security they had sent. _Is this all for me?_ He wondered.

"Guys wait for us!" Dawn shouted as she and Brock finally caught up to them. She panted, taking a moment to catch her breath, and began scolding Ash for leaving them behind and getting carried away again but he wasn't really listening, his attention still on the league agents.

"Let's go then" Cynthia motioned for them to follow.

Nervously he began walking, now acutely aware of just how many eyes were following him. Cynthia led the group to an empty lot where, to Ash, Dawn, and Brock's surprise, a helicopter was waiting.

"We're flying there?" Dawn asked looking at the huge flying machine. It was a large helicopter, completely black aside from the official pokémon league symbol, akin to the one on Ash's first hat, on its side.

Cynthia nodded. "It's much faster than walking" she winked. They all climbed into the helicopter, which had two seats of three facing each other. Dawn, who was particularly excited at the prospect of seeing Kanto airborne, claimed the far window seat on the right side, Brock sat in the middle, and Ash sat next to Brock with his own window. Cynthia alone took up the seat opposite them.

"Alright then let's go!" Ash exclaimed, happy to finally get moving and get away from the prying eyes. Although he figured they'd still follow them in their own modes of transportation.

"Hold on we're still waiting for someone" Cynthia claimed. Ash looked around confusedly; all of them were there and accounted for. Who could she possibly be waiting for? Ash didn't have to wait long for the answer to his question as the fifth member of their party climbed into the helicopter and took the seat next to the champion.

"Paul?!" Ash exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Language!" Dawn scolded. "He was on the ship. I ran into him while I was looking for you two." She looked up at the purple haired trainer and gave a small smile in greeting which he simply ignored, sitting down next to Cynthia with his eyes closed in that ignorant fashion.

"You knew he was here and didn't tell us?" Ash accused and Dawn guiltily looked away.

"I asked Paul to come to since I thought he'd have some useful information as well. Since it was your battle with him Ash that got interrupted it's obvious we'd invite your opponent along." Cynthia explained.

Ash narrowed his eyes at his Sinnoh rival. They still had a score to settle and he wanted to resolve it as soon as possible.

"How about a rematch then Paul?" He challenged, excitement already building up inside him. In fact that excitement hurt a little. _Ouch. Breathe slowly your ribs are still hurt remember_ Ash scolded himself silently in his head.

"What's the point?" Paul asked, an unimpressed expression on his face.

Ash scowled at Paul's rejection of his challenge "We should honour our battle and our pokémon by finishing it! What's wrong Paul? Scared cuz you know I was just about to beat you back then?" Ash taunted. Paul gave Ash a menacing glare and opened his mouth to retort but was stopped when Cynthia placed her hand on both Ash and Paul's arms.

"Enough. You can settle this later. Remember you're here for a reason." She reminded them. Paul grunted and ripped his arm from Cynthia's grip, shoving his hands in his pockets and choosing to ignore them for the rest of the trip.

Ash shot a glare at his rival before taking a breath and trying to relax himself. Pikachu rubbed his cheek against Ash's having noticed his trainer's discomfort. Ash smiled at his partner, the look in his eyes telling him he was ok and not to worry the others. Pikachu gave him a look of understanding. It was times like these that Ash really appreciated their ability to communicate with each other. It took a lot of work but now he could talk to Pikachu with just a few glances. It was a mark of their deep bond unlike any other.

The rest of the flight was sat in an awkward silence as Ash ignored Paul, Dawn ignored Ash, and Paul ignored everyone. Cynthia and Brock both sweat dropped at the younger trainers' attitudes but left them to their thoughts.

Ash looked out the window watching the scenery below. He was enjoying picking out all the places he'd travelled to and where he'd caught a pokémon or met a new friend. When they passed over the river that Misty fished him out of, he nearly burst out laughing. He wondered how his red headed friend was doing; she was probably training right now or maybe battling someone for the Cascade badge.

His thoughts were interrupted as Dawn called out "Look! Is that the place?" she asked, face plastered against the window.

Sure enough they were approaching the Indigo Plateau. Memories of his first league surfaced in Ash's mind. Getting all eight badges, the preliminaries, meeting Ritchie, learning Gary was beaten, having to battle Ritchie, losing to Ritchie… Ash inwardly cursed Charizard for his disobedience back then. He knew that in actuality it was his fault for not earning Charizard's respect, he loved Charizard as much as any other of his pokémon and held no blame toward it concerning the events from his first league tournament but that didn't mean he didn't sulk about it from time to time.

Ash held on to his seat tightly as the helicopter made a bumpy landing. Pikachu fell off his shoulder onto his lap and he quickly used one arm to secure the small mouse pokémon. Everyone sighed in relief when they'd finally landed. Brock practically leapt off board and started kissing the ground. As a rock type specialist perhaps he enjoyed the land more than he let off.

There were already people waiting for them on the platform. Ash narrowed his eyes; the ones who were watching them in Vermillion were probably from the same lot as these guys. A few men and women in black uniforms with the label 'G-MEN' in gold on the back hurried up to them and began leading them towards the entrance where an older woman waited.

"Agatha it's nice to see you again" Cynthia embraced the older woman who returned it gladly.

"Agatha? As in Kanto's elite four Agatha?" Paul asked, his eyes turned to the small older woman. Both he and Dawn looked surprised. Brock would already be familiar with her, being an ex-gym leader, and Ash had met her in Viridian city on his way home from Kanto. He couldn't blame them for being surprised about her identity. She didn't seem like she would be one of the top trainers in Kanto. She looked to be in about her sixties, with graying blonde hair and dark eyes. She wore a purple dress with a white collar and white apron attached, black stockings and small purple boots. She also used a cane but rather than the usual curved cane it looked roughly hand carved, the wood appeared even older than she was, it was crooked and ended in a large knob.

"Quite correct Paul. This is Agatha, one of Kanto's elite four and an old friend of mine." Cynthia introduced gesturing to the woman behind her.

"Watch what you say dearie I'm not that old" Agatha tittered. Ash had to disagree, to him she seemed pretty ancient but he wasn't about to say so since she also looked like she could kick his butt all the way back to Sinnoh.

The woman in question looked at him, her eyes peering straight into his which for some reason made Ash suddenly very nervous. He straightened up and gulped, waiting for her assessment.

"So it's you" Agatha's eyes swept up and down his body.

"This is Ash Ketchum, he's from Pallet Town and was in the middle of his battle with Paul here when the attack happened." Cynthia explained, gesturing to Ash.

"I know all that already. I've met this kid before."

"You have?" Cynthia asked incredulously.

"I battled him when I was running the Viridian Gym until the new gym leader arrived. He was sloppy and made rookie mistakes but… he did intrigue me. Very well then follow me" Agatha began walking off down the hall. The others all looked to Ash for a further explanation but he simply shrugged and started jogging after the old woman, the others were quick to follow.

Agatha led them to a small, plain looking room. It had a few seats and a potted plant in the corner but was otherwise bare.

"You will wait here" she instructed and they all took seats "Cynthia come" Cynthia waved goodbye and followed Agatha out one of the doors which shut loudly behind them.

Ash turned to his friends who were looking quite tired at this point. They'd already had a long boat ride, jumped straight onto a helicopter to get here, and now had to wait further before they could see anyone.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait guys?" he asked. Brock and Dawn shrugged, for all they knew they could be waiting the whole day. Who knew what the league board had to discuss before seeing them.

"…Are you nervous?" Dawn asked quietly. Ash looked at his younger friend who had a worried expression on her face.

"Nah, they'll ask a few simple questions and then we can go no need to worry!" He reassured her using her catchphrase. In truth he _was_ a bit nervous. He didn't know what they'd ask or what they wanted from him but he didn't want scare the poor girl any further.

The bluenette gave him a small smile which he returned. They fell into silence once again but it didn't last long as Pikachu jumped off Ash's lap and ran for the room's exit.

"Pikachu! Come back Agatha said we had to wait here!" Ash got up to run after his partner but the door suddenly opened and Pikachu threw itself at the newcomer.

"Why hello Pikachu!" the woman exclaimed happily.

"Mom?!" Ash gaped at the sight of his mother, now kneeling on the floor hugging Pikachu.

"Oh hi honey" she greeted, not looking up from her new companion. Ash fell anime style at her brushing him off.

"Hello Mrs Ketchum!" Brock greeted, getting up to shake her hand. Delia stood up again and Pikachu returned to its trainer.

"Hello Brock it's nice to see you again! Thank you for looking after my Ash, has he been behaving well? Does he change his you know whats everyday?"

"MOM!" Ash protested, his face flushing in embarrassment. He could hear Dawn snicker behind him and sent a glare her way. She ignored him and got up to introduce herself.

"Hi Mrs Ketchum, my name's Dawn Berlitz!"

"Hi Dawn! Ash has told me so much about you it's nice to finally meet you!" The two girls began to catch up on how Dawn got to be travelling with Ash before he got quite fed up with being ignored and interrupted their conversation.

"Mom what are you doing here?" He asked. He was glad to see her but didn't imagine he would so soon, he thought he'd have to wait until he was let go t go home and see her again.

"I brought her" a new voice joined in the conversation. Professor Oak walked into the room, his grandson and Ash's oldest rival, Gary walking behind him.

"Professor? Gary? Why are you all here?"

"Long time no see Ashy boy" Gary greeted with his old nickname for Ash but using it in a friendly way rather than the insulting way he used to.

"As the leading professor of the region I'm asked to advise on many of the issues concerning the league. Since I knew you'd be here I asked your mother to join me given that I knew she wanted to see you as soon as possible. Gary was visiting me at the time and, when he heard that we were coming here, insisted that he come along as well. I left Tracey to look after the pokémon at the lab but he said to say hi for him and to tell you that all your pokémon are doing great and that until you come home he'll look after them."

Ash nodded at that last bit in appreciation. He missed his pokémon and Tracey and was thankful he had a good friend to watch over them while he travelled.

"Is that really Professor Oak and his grandson the famous Gary Oak the new and upcoming amazing researcher?!" Dawn asked with stars in her eyes.

"Ahh you must be Dawn! I remember you from the video calls with Ash" Dawn squealed in excitement that she was remembered by the famous professor before turning her attention to the younger Oak who sweat dropped at the sudden attention.

"You're Gary Oak, grandson to Professor Samuel Oak, researcher specializing in ancient and extinct pokémon and Ash's oldest rival" She stated quite firmly.

Gary nodded in confirmation and smirked, his old confidence and superior attitude returning once more "I see you know a lot about me, yeah that's me".

"Is it true that you used to be the biggest snob with the worst attitude problem and you only changed cuz Ash absolutely crushed you in the Johto league?" Gary fell anime style and turned to Ash, smiling but giving off waves of anger.

"What exactly have you been saying about me Ashy boy?" he asked, looking ready to strangle him.

"Well… hehehe…." Ash trailed off worried that his life was about to end.

Dawn laughed, making the two boys look up and possibly saving Ash from a punch to the face.

"Don't worry Gary I know Ash can exaggerate sometimes. I watched the match between you two on TV so I know it was a close call." She giggled.

Gary relaxed "alright I guess I can let Ash off the hook then, I shouldn't be surprised that he's still immature enough to say things like that" he teased and this time it was Ash's turn to blow steam out his ears.

"buuuut I still know you were quite the jerk beforehand" Dawn taunted and Gary paled.

Brock laughed "Sorry Gary that would be my bad but if we're being honest you weren't the nicest guy back then".

Gary blinked, pouting a little but then laughed "Yeah I guess you're right" he turned to Ash who smiled at his long time rival and they shook hands.

"It's good to see you Ash" Gary smiled.

"You too Gary" Ash returned the gesture.

"It's nice to see you two getting along!" The two boys turned to Professor Oak who was smiling at them. The Professor then turned his eyes to Paul who was still sitting in the corner of the room, ignoring all the happy reunions.

"And who might you be? Another friends of Ash's?"

Paul grunted "Tch. Far from it. I was Ash's opponent in the quarter-finals when the attack happened."

"That's Paul. He's Ash's greatest rival in Sinnoh and he's also got a bad attitude in fact it might even rival yours Gary" Brock teased and everyone laughed except for the young man in question who crossed his arms and huffed.

Professor Oak kept trying to talk to Paul about the pokémon found in Sinnoh who, although antisocial, was taking advantage of the opportunity to talk to one of the world's leading pokémon professors. Brock and Dawn chatted with Gary about his recent findings and Ash took this opportunity to talk with his mother who was waiting for him on the other side of the room.

"Hi mom"

"Oh my sweet boy!" Delia gave him a tight hug which Ash returned gladly. He usually would be embarrassed at knowing his friends and rival could see this exchange but right now he was just happy to see his mom. Delia let him go but held him at arms length, looking over her son for any injuries.

"You've grown so much since the last time I saw you" she was right. He was now quite a bit taller than her now and he hadn't even noticed.

"Are you alright? When I saw the smoke on TV and then the picture went black I…" She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "I was so worried".

He hugged her tightly again. "Don't worry mom I'm ok. This is me we're talking about remember? Besides I always have Pikachu to watch out for me right buddy?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu confirmed and jumped from his place on the floor up to Ash's shoulder again.

Delia smiled at the exchange, "Thank you Pikachu" and rubbed Pikachu on the head.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to Sinnoh to see you while you were in hospital Ash. Professor Oak told me that Cynthia said they were bringing you here and that there was no point in going but I –"

"It's ok mom" Ash cut her off "I'm fine I just needed to rest, Nurse Joy gave me the all clear so you don't need to worry so much"

Delia smiled and they finally let go of each other. He wanted to say something more to his mother. Explain how when he was unconscious he could hear her calling to him but the door opened again and Cynthia popped her head through the opening.

"Ash, we'll see you and the others now."

Ash nodded and Delia gave him a pat on the arm in support and went to go sit down next to Gary who also wouldn't be going in for questioning. Paul got up from his seat and made his way with the others to follow Cynthia.

They trekked down the hall silently, footsteps echoing down the corridor as they came up to a large set of doors at the end.

"It's just through here. Relax guys everything will be fine." Cynthia tried to reassure them but they were all tense.

Cynthia pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Ash let the others walk in first before taking a deep breath and following after them. The room was empty except for a long table where several people sat. There were some he didn't know but he recognized Agatha, Bruno and Prima (A/N: In the games she's known as Lorelei but since we're using the anime format and Ash has met her before where she was introduced as Prima I'm going to use that name) the elite four members and, sitting at the very head of the table, was the final elite four member and reigning champion, Lance. Chin resting on his fingers he stared at Ash, in fact they all were. Cynthia led them to a few empty chairs and took one for her own.

It was tense in the room before Lance finally broke the silence.

– _Lance's POV –_

When Agatha finally arrived with Cynthia, Lance immediately moved over to greet them.

"Cynthia thank you for coming so quickly" he shook her hand.

"It's not like I had much choice" the blonde pointed out.

"hn" was all the response he gave. He knew she was curious about who summoned her and the others to Kanto and guessed she already had her suspicions but this was something he couldn't talk about leisurely.

"Ash noticed the G-men you sent to watch us arrive in Vermillion" Cynthia's voice dropped to a whisper.

Lance raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I didn't send agents to greet you in Vermillion, only the ones who met you when the helicopter landed" he said slowly his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What? Then who was in Vermillion? Is someone acting behind our backs?" She asked urgently, her eyes sweeping across the room.

Lance thought for a moment before speaking. "We act like nothing is out the ordinary. You told Ash not to mention it right?" Cynthia nodded. "Good. Let's keep it quiet for now until we know more. Ash needs to be protected remember, that was the order."

Cynthia nodded again, more firmly this time and with determination in her eye. _She really likes this kid_ he realized.

Cynthia and Agatha then took their seats at the table and Lance decided to get started. He had some things to get out the way before Ash and his friends came in.

He took his place at the head of the table, catching the attention of the other people in the room who all looked up at him expectedly.

The room was suddenly lit up as the wall behind Lance turned into a massive television screen which projected Ash's face.

"Ash Ketchum, sixteen years old. Began his journey six years ago from Pallet Town." His voice boomed across the room.

The screen then flashed to show images of all kinds of pokémon. "First pokémon was a Pikachu received from Professor Oak and has since then captured over 60 pokémon." Pikachu, Buizel, Torterra, Staraptor, Gliscor and Infernape were lit up with the word 'ACTIVE' on top. The others were dim with the words 'DEACTIVE', a few were in black and white and labeled 'RELEASED'.

" He has participated in the Kanto League, making it to the top sixteen, and Hoenn League, making it to the top eight, as well as completing both the Orange League and the Battle Frontier. He denied the offer to become a Frontier Brain. Finally, he recently participated in the incompleted Sinnoh League." Lance finished and shuffled the papers on the table in front of him. The people on the table murmured at his last comments about Ash's achievements, clearly impressed with what he'd accomplished so far at such a young age.

The screen changed again to show the video footage of the quarter final battle between Ash and Paul at the Sinnoh League. Everyone watched in rapt attention until the bomb dropped and black smoke obscured the image.

"This is the footage that was live broadcasted around the world" Lance explained "however we cut it off at this point and the camera continued recording, we were able get a few more minutes of footage before it cut out for good" as he said this the smoke began to clear and the picture returned.

Now it showed Ash in the middle of the field holding Pikachu and facing off against the Team Galactic member. Around them, in the stands, trainers were battling Rocket grunts and civilians who'd come to watch the battle ran around in a panic. Ash and the Team Galactic member were talking but their words were drowned out by the sounds of battling and screaming. The villain then released his pokémon and the Salamance released a huge hyper beam. It hit dead on.

The room was silent as they all watched Ash get hit by the attack, his body completely devoured by the beam. Lance waited; the real shock was coming up. The beam of orange light was suddenly disrupted as a huge blue dome of energy pushed it away. They were barely able to make out a shape in the middle of the light, it looked like the silhouette of a young boy, then the image began to blur and finally turned to static as the blast damaged the camera.

People gasped at what they saw and immediately began chattering to each other. What could this mean? How did he survive? What was that light? Were some of the questions Lance heard them ask each other.

"Settle down now" he commanded. "Obviously there is much that we still do not know. We have brought the boy involved with this incident as well as a few witnesses to help clear up what happened". He looked at Cynthia and nodded, indicating that they were ready to bring in the kids. Lance took a deep breath. Things would be difficult from here on out.

…

Lance watched as Cynthia led a group of young trainers into the conference room. He was able to identify the young man with purple hair as Paul Shinji, one of the Sinnoh league participants, and Brock Harrison, former leader of the Pewter GYM. The girl with blue hair he did not know the name of but he was certain he'd seen her perform in the Grand festival. The elderly man who followed at the end was of course Professor Oak, leading researcher of Kanto. Finally, the boy with raven hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder, the one who with this meeting was concerned…

Cynthia led them all to empty seats and they all looked nervously at the other people at the table. Lance's gaze did not leave the young boy. Ash appeared very nervous, sitting rigidly in his seat and keeping his eyes downcast.

"It's good to see you again Ash" he smiled at the young boy hoping to help him feel more comfortable.

Ash looked up in surprise at the champion and gave a sheepish smile. "You too Lance. How's Garyados doing?"

It was just like Ash to ask about pokémon when there was a much more pressing issue concerning him. It made Lance smile appreciatively.

"Garyados is doing great thank you. He's settled in well with my team. How's your Pikachu?"

"That's great!" Ash grinned. "Pikachu is good too right buddy?"

"Pika!" the mouse agreed from his shoulder.

Lance smiled again at the young trainer. He was visibly more relaxed now.

"Enough! We are here to have a serious discussion about the events at the Sinnoh league!" a man said angrily rising from his seat and slamming his hand on the table.

Ash quickly dropped his grin and became stiff once again. Lance clenched his teeth. Damn those council league members. Lance then turned to Ash again.

"Ash do you understand why you are here?" He asked, in a much more gentle yet serious tone.

"You want to ask me questions. About what happened." The boy answered, he appeared less nervous now, choosing to stare straight at Lance and ignoring everyone else around him.

Lance nodded "Good. That saves me some explanation. You are at the headquarters of the Pokémon League. The league is run by a governing body known as the Pokémon League council or 'PLC'. These people sitting before you" he gestured to the men and women sitting around the table, "are all members of the council. Some you shall recognize. The pokémon league champion, as well as its elite four from both Kanto and Johto, and the GYM leaders of both regions, are automatic members although GYM leaders are exempt from most council matters and it is rare for them to participate in meetings. The rest of the council is made up of people who are knowledgeable in these matters of pokémon and politics. You've met our president already I believe."

The man in the seat next to him waved to Ash.

"President Goodshow!" Ash said happily, looking relieved to see another familiar face.

"It's nice to see you again Ash although I wish it were in better circumstances!" The old man greeted and Ash nodded solemnly.

"Professors Oak, Elm and Ivy are not council members however they do provide their expertise on most mattters" Lance continued.

However, Brock suddenly became depressed and sat in the corner "don't mention that name" he said somberly. Ash and co. sweat dropped at their friend's actions while Lance and the rest of the council watched in confusion.

"If I may continue" Lance coughed "these members together make all of the decisions of the league which controls the two regions. As such, they are our leading governing body." He paused to check if Ash was following all the information. The boy looked quite confused and Lance sighed, he'd need to simply this if he was going to understand anything.

"Basically everyone here makes all the decisions about what the pokémon league does"

"Oh!" Ash nodded in understanding.

"First we'd like your account of what happened that day when Team Rocket and, as you stated to Cynthia earlier, a member of Team Galactic attacked the Sinnoh League Lily of the Valley Conference".

All attention turned to Ash who stood from his seat with a serious expression.

"As you saw I was in the middle of my battle with Paul. I was so focused on it that I didn't see the smoke bomb drop until it exploded." Ash began to explain. "I… I could hear people shouting. I didn't know what was going on but I was just worried about Pikachu so I ran onto the field to look for him. The smoke was so thick I couldn't see or breathe. Then when it cleared that guy was standing there. I recognized his uniform so I knew he was from Team Galactic. He told me to hand over my pokémon, but I said no. We were ready to battle but when he released his Salamance… he…"

Ash trailed off. He was visibly shaking, his hands clenched tightly into fists. He received many sympathetic looks from most everyone in the room. _Good_ Lance thought, _make yourself seem vulnerable_. Ash had no idea how important his next words and actions were. If he did anything to make the council doubt him… Lance shuddered at the thought.

"…he commanded his Salamance to attack" Ash finally continued after taking a deep breath. "All I can really remember is him shouting to attack, and running in front of Pikachu to try and protect him. I… I was hit. It was so hot. So so hot. It _burned_. My body… it was like flames. It hurt the most here" Ash pointed to his chest where the bandages were still tightly wrapped under his clothes. "Then I blacked out. I woke up in hospital three days later." Ash finished recounting his story.

His friends stared at him in shock; they hadn't heard him talk about his injuries so explicitly. Ash had been hiding more then they'd thought.

"That explains nothing!" the same man from earlier spoke again. "The video shows-"

"Mifune!" Lance interrupted. "That is enough." he glared at the older man. Mifune was a long-time member of the council. He had clawed his way into the position through less than desirable means, using extortion and blackmail to worm his way into the council, but was sneaky enough to not get caught. He has a pot belly, a result from his greedy appetite, graying hair and a condescending sneer of a smile. Lance despised the man. He opposed Lance on almost every issue that had ever come up in the council. Lance knew that he was vying for a higher position on the council. The man had his eyes set on the president's position ever since he'd first joined and unfortunately he had many supporters within the political side of the council. Luckily Goodshow was still the more popular choice due to his experience; however he wasn't getting any younger and eventually the position would have to pass on to another council member.

"Thank you Ash. You may leave for now." He dismissed the trainer.

"What about the others? Do you need to talk to them too?" Ash asked and his friends looked up expectedly.

"We will call for them later. You may all go, Professor please stay a moment longer."

Ash, Dawn, Brock and Paul all exited the room. When the door shut behind them the council members leaned forward in their seats, eager to start the meeting.

Lance coughed to get everyone's attention. "Now that we've heard from Ash's perspective I'd like you to hear from Cynthia. I'm sure you're all still confused about the situation so I hope she can make it clear so please listen to what she has to say".

Cynthia nodded to her fellow champion and stood "I was watching the match from the champion's observer box when the explosion happened. I immediately ran down to the stadium to help, trainers were battling Rocket grunts and I sent out my pokémon to battle. I had barely started fighting when the leader of the instigation started speaking over the PA system. I looked down at the field just in time to see Ash get hit by the Hyper Beam. It was awful. We all thought he was dead. But then suddenly there was a huge explosion and Ash was still standing. What I saw back then… it was Ash. He stopped it."

"The boy? How?" another council member asked.

"I can't explain it but a blue energy, that light we saw in the video, exploded out of him and dispersed the attack, protecting him." Cynthia explained uncertainly.

"A blue energy?" Agatha spoke up. "It could be… that ancient power is not extinct after all…" she murmured mysteriously. Everyone gave her curious looks, Agatha however, made eye contact with Lance. _She knows_ he thought.

Mifune was the first to speak his mind. "You expect us to believe a mere boy stopped that attack? Impossible! Clearly he is in league with those criminals and it was all a trick!"

"A trick? Why would they do that and retreat when they essentially had us on the ropes?" Bruno, the rock type elite four member, spoke up.

Mifune struggled with an answer. "Who knows? How can we expect to understand the minds of those delinquents? You think this boy has some sort of power? Preposterous!"

"It's not unconceivable" Agatha interrupted. "The blue energy, it reminds me of a once forgotten ancient power that was long thought extinct; at least in humans that is. We see it in pokémon. It's where their power comes from as well. For it to manifest in a human… and in someone so young… it's unheard of."

"What are you talking about?" Mifune asked the old woman irritably.

"Aura." Agatha uttered the one word which silenced the chatter among the council members.

"...Aura? You mean the power of the guardians?" Prima asked inquisitively, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Indeed. Aura is the power which lies in all living creatures. Humans and pokémon alike both possess it. It's our life force. In pokémon, it also is the source of their power. This was once also true for humans. Some humans were able to draw out their power and use aura themselves. They were special beings that had stronger auras than their fellow man. They trained in the practice of aura to become what was known as 'Aura Guardians'. However, war devastated the land and the aura users were wiped out. At least that is what we thought. If what Cynthia saw was indeed the manifestation of aura then perhaps the power still lies dormant in some people. Ash is seemingly one of them." Agatha finished her explanation.

Lance turned his attention to the Professor who remained in his seat as he'd been asked. "Professor you've known Ash longer than anyone? What are your thoughts on this matter?"

"Ash has always been a special boy, but I've never seen him exhibit any sign of being an aura user. It's true he visited the Cameran Palace in Rota a while back and he's always been good at communicating with his pokémon including a Riolu at one point but aura? That I do not know." The professor replied carefully. Lance narrowed his eyes. The Professor knew more than he was letting on. He'd have to talk to him privately later.

"If Ash can use aura why hasn't it come out till now?" Will, a member of the Johto elite four, asked.

"It is possible that it has appeared before in dire situations and the boy has never realized what it was. Without training, aura cannot be manifested and only appears when the person is in fatal danger or in great emotional turmoil." Agatha answered, deep in thought.

"So when he was attacked by that Hyper Beam…" Cynthia began.

"Ash's aura burst forth and protected him" Lance finished.

"Aura users? That is but a legend! We cannot believe some old myth was the result of this anomaly". Mifune said firmly.

"I concur. We should not assume this to be accurate without confirmation" Koga agreed. Koga had recently resigned as Fushia city's Gym Leader and handed his position over to his apprentice Aya in order to take a place in Johto's elite four. Some argued that there were better candidates for the position but the other Gym Leaders and Frontier Brains were not interested in leaving their current positions, instead choosing to remain in their respective gyms and frontier structures.

There were murmurs of agreement at Koga's statement. Lance grit his teeth. This was not going the way he had hoped. At this rate Ash would be in trouble. He had to turn this around.

"Are you suggesting we conduct experiments on the boy? He is only sixteen! A child! We cannot treat him like some sort of lab rat" Lance argued hoping to remind the council of Ash's adolescence.

The Professor supported Lance's argument. "I will not allow any sort of experiment to be carried out on the trainer I sponsor."

"We cannot afford not to test him! If he does have this power Agatha speaks of then who knows how dangerous the boy could be? And we're still not certain he isn't in league with Team Rocket and Galactic!" Mifune countered. There were nods of approval at his statement around the table.

"And just how do you suggest we test him?"Lance countered angrily. "Do we fire another attack at him? Throw him off a building? We are the Pokémon League Council. We are responsible for the safety of _all_ trainers. We cannot condone this kind of action". He glared at each member of the council individually to emphasize his point.

No one had a response. It was true. They had no method to test the Ash's abilities without putting him in real danger; however, neither could they ignore the issue.

"I believe a viable test has already been carried out" Cynthia spoke up.

The Professor fumed at her words. "You tested him without any sort of permission?" he asked, anger and disapproval evident in his voice.

"I didn't do any sort of lab experiment in fact he never had any idea I was trying to test him" She said calmly.

Lance raised his eyebrows "how?" he asked, genuinely curious. He knew Cynthia wasn't the type to usually go for this sort of thing. In fact he expected her to be more outspoken in opposing it.

"Earlier when we were on the ship headed to Vermillion, I had a battle with Ash. I had a theory that I wanted to test so I had a one on one battle with my Garchomp against his Pikachu." She turned to Agatha "what Agatha said about how aura works and what I witnessed during the battle furthered my suspicions".

"What did you see in your battle against Ash?" Will asked.

"I've battled him before. He is a competent trainer, a veteran after all his accomplishments. Still he did better than I expected. His command over his pokémon was extraordinary; I'd never seen such synchronization between trainer and pokémon." Cynthia said all this while turning back to the TV screen which had switched again to show Ash's face and trainer stats.

"During our battle he showed a great ability to think on his feet and come up with unusual strategies. He was at a great disadvantage using an electric type against my ground type, I could see it was frustrating him greatly and Pikachu had taken quite a lot of damage which only increased the pressure on him. Yet he found a way to overcome that shortcoming by powering up Pikachu with its own electric attack and then using Volt Tackle to increase its speed before switching into a powerful iron tail." The elite four members and Lance all nodded in approval, it was a great albeit unorthodox strategy.

"We know he can battle well but how was this a test and what results were there?" A woman piped up.

"After he launched that final attack I thought I saw his eyes flash blue for a moment. If I'm correct, I believe that his aura was spiking due to the heat of the battle. Ash was vulnerable to his feelings not only from the pressure of the battle but his anxiety of coming here and his confusion over what had happened at the Sinnoh League." Cynthia explained her theory. "What is even stranger is that immediately after, he became fatigued and we had to stop the battle"

"Is it possible that using aura causes his fatigue? Does it wipe out his energy?" Prima asked.

"I do not know all of the secrets of aura but that seems likely" Agatha answered.

"That is the answer then! If he is under extreme emotional duress we can see his powers emerge!" Mifune jumped in. Lance did not like the gleam in his eye.

"If it makes him exhausted doesn't that make it unethical?" Bruno questioned.

 _Great work Cynthia!_ Lance silently applauded in his head. This was perfect. Now they had evidence to suggest that this could hurt Ash they could keep him in protection from all kinds of enemies, external and internal.

"We don't have a choice! We must know for sure." Mifune slammed his fist on the table and many of the council members backed him up.

Cynthia moved over to Lance and whispered to him while the others continued to argue. "What should we do? At this rate Ash will-"

"We need them to believe Ash is no threat. We initially brought him here under our protection. Let's keep it that way" Lance quietly responded under his breath.

While all this was going on, one member of the council had remained silent. Watching and listening to both sides.

President Goodshow then stood from his seat, an amusing sight considering his short stature, but it had the effect he desired all the same. Upon seeing their president rise the other council members became silent, anxious to hear his opinion on the matter.

"Ash is still a young boy. He doesn't seem to even be aware of the potential power within him. Considering this, I think it is impertinent that we keep him oblivious to the fact although I believe some of his companions already suspect something is amiss." He spoke reverently and with influence. With a few words he had calmed the quelling. _This is what a real leader looks like_ Lance thought throwing a glare towards Mifune who was steaming in his seat.

"If Ash does indeed have this aura power, then Teams Rocket and Galactic have now also witnessed it. Therefore, it's likely they'll eventually come for Ash and try to harness the power for themselves. In that case, it is vital that we protect him at all costs." President Goodshow said sternly.

 _Good_ Lance thought _President Goodshow said just the right things._

The council board had now reached a consensus. They could not test Ash; but neither could they let him fall into the wrong hands. So in order to protect him, he would remain in custody of the league. It wasn't the perfect solution but it would keep Ash safe. At least for now.

 **I'M SO SORRY I KNOW I SAID I'D GET THIS CHAPTER OUT EARLY! But I got carried away and made it heaps longer than I intended and ended up rewriting it like 6 times. I'm still not happy with it but I can't think of how to improve it without completely rewriting it again (beta readers come at me please). Anyway I hope you liked it! Please review, favourite and follow!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Exposed**

– _Paul's POV –_

That meeting was a complete waste of time for Paul. They didn't even ask him questions. In fact the only one they even spoke to was the idiot and he didn't even realize what'd happened to him. Now he'd have to wait even longer before they spoke to him, _if_ they even still wanted to.

Paul watched Ash walk ahead of him with his eyes narrowed. Ash was smiling and chatting with the cheery girl, Dusk or whatever her name was, and the older perverted one. They both looked at their raven haired friend in worry once they'd left the room but Ash brushed it off, acting like he was fine. From his point of view though, Paul could see how tense Ash's shoulders were.

When Ash spoke about the attack and how it felt… the way he described his pain… it was so _real_. He could see the whole scene in his head, like he were watching it happen all over again. Except Ash didn't know the whole story, he didn't know what he did or that both he and the girl saw it. Paul wasn't sure the tall one saw it too but she definitely did, even if she wouldn't admit it.

Why wouldn't she? He knows she did. Sure neither of them is certain exactly _what_ they saw but why was she in such denial of it? He stared at the back of her head and she must have felt it because she turned and looked at him curiously so he diverted his gaze quickly.

They finally made it back to the small waiting room where the younger Oak and the woman had been left behind. They both stood when the four trainers returned and immediately walked over to the group of three while Paul once again took his seat in the corner.

He would have happily sat there in silence until Cynthia returned or he was called in for questioning but that troublesome girl walked over and sat down next to him.

"Hey" she said softly.

"Hn" was all he replied. He was not interested in whatever conversation she had in mind.

She studied his face for a few moments and he wondered whether she would decide to take his response as a sign to leave him alone or if she'd be stubborn and try to continue talking to him. Naturally it was the latter.

"You ok?" she asked tentatively. Her question surprised him. It wasn't something he was asked a lot. In fact the only one who did ask was Reggie and he rarely received any kind of response from Paul.

"Shouldn't you be asking your friend that?" he returned with raised eyebrows.

She looked back at Ash who was chatting with his mother, the tall one and young Oak. He was telling them a story of some sort of adventure he'd had, using his arms to make big gestures and Pikachu jumping in where Paul guessed he'd left out details, not that anyone could understand the pokémon.

"I don't think I'm the one he needs to talk to" she finally answered.

Paul didn't respond again and instead also looked at the cluster of people. Ash was smiling while talking to his mother and friends but something was off. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes like it usually did. In fact looking closely, Ash looked downright awful. He moved stiffly, probably still feeling his injuries and restricted by the bandages hidden by his shirt. He also had dark shadows under his eyes. _He hasn't been sleeping_ Paul thought. He wondered if he'd slept at all since waking up in the hospital. Then he remembered he didn't really care.

Dawn sighed beside him which interrupted his thoughts. "When he talked about getting hurt I…" she broke off, unable to finish whatever she was about to say. Paul figured that she less likely came to talk to him about his feelings rather than she'd really come to talk about hers.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn't good at this sort of thing. Nor was he interested in it. Why would she come to him of all people? They weren't friends; that was something Paul avoided like the plague. In his opinion, friends were quite useless. He travelled too often and too far to have friends in his hometown and making friends on the road was pointless since you basically never saw them again. He had acquaintances, and trainers he respected, but friends?

It dawned on him that she was probably waiting for some sort of response from him when the door opened again and Cynthia poked her head inside.

"Well done you four. Ash you were fantastic thank you" she smiled and then turned her attention to Paul.

"Paul can you, Dawn, and Brock come with me? We're ready for you now." She said, smile now gone.

He pushed himself out of the seat, and headed to the door. Dawn and Brock hesitated for a moment before following. Cynthia led them down the hallway but instead of returning to the large room they were in before, they turned a corner into a completely different corridor. They took a few more turns before they finally reached a door and Cynthia gave three light knocks.

"Come in" called a voice from inside.

Cynthia opened the door and gestured for Paul to walk in first. Stepping into the room he found himself in an office like setting. There were three small chairs sitting in front of a large, wooden desk and behind that desk sat the Kanto-Jhoto Champion whom they'd just met, Lance.

Lance indicated to the three seats, inviting them to sit down. Paul grabbed the one on the left, which also happened to be conveniently closest to the door. Dawn sat in the middle and Brock on the other end.

Cynthia closed the door behind them and walked to stand next to Lance. The two champions looked at the three trainers seriously and Paul narrowed his eyes at the two of them. "Why aren't we being questioned with the rest of the council present?" He asked suspiciously.

"We'd rather avoid any unnecessary... discussions with the council members" Lance answered, evading the question.

"What do you want then?" Paul asked irritably.

"We just want to get your side of the story" Cynthia replied calmly. Dawn and Brock nodded, satisfied with the answer, however Paul suspected there was more to it.

"Let's start with you Brock" Lance spoke his eyes turning to the eldest of the three. "You've known Ash the longest correct? Tell me about him and what happened that day".

Brock nodded "I met Ash six years ago, he'd just started his journey and beaten me for a badge at the Pewter GYM which I was the leader of. I decided to travel with him and pursue my dream of becoming a pokémon breeder" Brock explained. Paul rolled his eyes. This was stuff they probably already knew. Why were they bothering with it? Lance and Cynthia both just nodded at his words, listening intently.

"We've been together a long time," Brock continued. "I wasn't with him for all of his travels, we separated from time to time when I'd go back home or when he went to journey the Orange Islands. We ended up together again in Sinnoh, and soon enough we met Dawn. On the day of Ash and Paul's battle…" Brock broke off, struggling with the words.

"When the smoke bomb hit I wanted to run down to help but some Team Rocket members challenged us to a battle. We fought them off" he said gesturing to Dawn "and then that Galactic guy, his voice was on the speakers. He said he was going to make an 'example' out of Ash and then he ordered his Salamance to attack. I didn't see much of what happened. There was an explosion and the dust got in my eyes. When I could finally see again Ash was on the ground."

Brock's eyes were watering now but he wasn't finished speaking. "I ran down to check on him. He was really hurt but I was just glad he was alive. The medics came then and I checked on Pikachu. Then I saw…"

"Yes?" Lance encouraged.

"The ground…where Ash was standing, it was burned… in a perfect circle. I don't know why but it was" Brock finished.

Lance simply nodded at his story and turned to Dawn next.

"And you?" he asked.

"It was like Brock said" she said, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "We were fighting Team Rocket when that guy attacked Ash and he…" tears were slowly running down her cheeks and Brock offered her a hand to hold which she gratefully took. "Ash he… when he was hit he… he…" she stuttered helplessly.

"What did you see?" Lance pressed, now more urgently than before.

"He stopped it himself" Paul interrupted, fed up with her pathetic attempt to regale the event.

Lance and Cynthia turned their attention to him, their eyes steeled on his face and expressions dark. "He what?" Lance asked.

"He stopped it himself" Paul repeated "when the hyper beam hit him he pushed it away".

Cynthia and Lance exchanged glances. "What do you mean pushed it away?" The blonde asked.

"The explosion happened because some sort of force met with the hyper beam attack. It's like in a pokémon battle when two attacks collide and they create an explosion" Paul explained. "When the smoke cleared Ash was still standing and he had this… blue glow surrounding him. Then he collapsed. She saw it too" Paul finished throwing a look at the girl beside him.

"Is this true?" Lance demanded turning to Dawn again.

"Umm… I'm not sure but that's what it looked like" she replied softly still avoiding his gaze.

Cynthia and Lance exchanged looks again and finally nodded to one another. "We thought so" Cynthia sighed. _So they knew all along_ Paul thought. "We managed to extract a video recording of the attack and we saw what you and Paul witnessed" Cynthia said addressing Dawn. "The blue glow you saw. We believe it was Ash's aura" she said, eyes searching their faces for their reactions.

"Aura?" Dawn asked her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Like when Ash was able to communicate with that Riolu?" she asked.

"Ash could talk to a Riolu?" Lance asked surprised.

"Well more like he knew how Riolu was feeling and Riolu could project images in his mind. Kellyn, he's a pokémon ranger who was with us at the time, said it was because their aura was a perfect match to each other. But what has that got to do with what happened at the league?" Dawn asked.

"Ash can use aura" Brock jumped in before Lance or Cynthia could answer.

"You knew?" Lance asked sharply.

"We've come across it before" Brock answered hesitantly, drawn aback by Lance's sudden advance. "Once when we travelled to the Cameron Castle we met the Lucario of the Aura Guardian Sir Aaron. The Tree of Life and its guardian, Mew, were dying. The only way to save it was to transfer aura to Mew so it could save the tree. Ash, who freed Lucario from Sir Aaron's staff because his aura was like Sir Aaron's, used aura to save Mew. Lucario also used its aura and ended up sacrificing itself to save all of us" he concluded sadly.

Paul was taking this all in and it was very complicated. Aura? Lucario and Mew? What kind of trouble was that loser getting himself into?

"So Ash has manipulated Aura before? Then why didn't he know that he'd used it to protect himself?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"hmm… well aside from that time and when he was able to communicate with Riolu, Ash has never really used aura. Even in those times he didn't use it much or know how to use it. When he was trying to save Mew and the Tree of Life he was using Sir Aaron's gloves which help control aura so I don't think he knows that he can use it to that extent" Brock theorized.

Paul agreed with him. It was definitely plausible although he was still having a hard time believing Ash could use such an awesome power. Dawn too looked shocked at learning Ash had encountered this before.

"Ok I think that will do then" Lance muttered. He looked at them seriously, grabbing their attention.

"Do not speak a word of this to anyone especially not to Ash" he said sternly.

"But why?" asked Dawn "shouldn't we at least tell Ash? And what about the council? Don't they need to know too?"

Paul was wondering that himself and listened intently for the champions answer.

"Ash is in serious danger because of this incident. Aura is an ancient power that was believed to be extinct and if people find out he has this power, they'll want it for themselves which means trouble for Ash. Furthermore some of the council members haven't ruled out that Ash could have lent a hand in the attack on the league" Lance explained.

"That's ridiculous! Ash would never help Team Rocket or Team Galactic! He was trying to stop them anyone could see that!" Dawn argued angrily. Brock also voiced his protests at this.

"Yes we know" Cynthia held up a hand to settle the younger trainers. "But not all of the council members see eye to eye".

"What's important is keeping this quiet. It'd be better for Ash to remain unaware of the situation as well. It will only cause him stress and he still needs to heal besides an emotional upset could cause his aura powers to awaken again" Lance spoke seriously.

"Alright so we don't tell anyone what we know. What are we supposed to say when people ask then?" Paul asked, finally rejoining the conversation.

"Follow Ash's story and say there was an explosion and you didn't see anything else" Lance replied. "and another thing, the council is placing Ash under League protection which means he won't be able to leave for a while. This should also be kept from him. He shouldn't know that he is under protection or he'll start to ask _why_ he needs to be"

"So you're not going to let him leave? What about his pokémon journey?" Dawn asked.

"It's best that Ash stay here where we can watch him" said Lance.

"Ash isn't going to like that" Brock said, crossing his arms in disapproval.

Lance sighed "we know. But there's nothing else we can do. You'll all have to stay as well."

"Wait what?" Paul suddenly shot up from his seat. "You're telling me I have to stay here as well? Why? For how long? That loser's the one in protective custody not me why should I have to stay and have my every move watched too?" He demanded.

"You all have to stay here because if people want Ash they'll want you too" Lance shot back, voice raised. "You will stay for as long as I say you will. We're done here." Lance turned his seat so he was now facing away from them. Paul wanted to continue to argue but Cynthia shot him a warning look.

Paul growled under his breath, this wasn't a fight he could win. He slammed open the door and stormed off down the hall while Brock and Dawn walked slowly behind him.

– _Ash's POV_ –

Ash was glad to finally escape the gaze of the council members. He hadn't realized how complicated the league hierarchy was. He just sort of figured they organized the Indigo and Silver conference every year and that was it. Although he supposed it made sense that they'd be in charge of other matters. After all Lance solved that problem with the Red Garyados and they had the G-men too.

He'd been in the middle of telling his mom and Gary about the pokémon he'd seen and captured in Sinnoh when Cynthia knocked on the door and called for Paul, Brock and Dawn. His body tensed when they were leaving the room and Brock shot him once last worried look. Ash didn't like that they weren't questioned together. It was weird that they got to be there for his interrogation but he couldn't be there for theirs. He was in the middle of wondering what kind of questions they could be asking when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright Ash?" Gary asked, concern on his face.

"yeah I'm fine" he said and then took a deep breath to relax himself.

Gary studied him for a moment apparently not satisfied with his answer so Ash pulled his face into a grin in an attempt to reassure his childhood friend.

"How 'bout it Gary should we have a battle for old times sake?" Ash challenged hoping to distract the brunette.

Gary narrowed his eyes but smiled "I'm always up for an easy win Ashy boy" he taunted.

Ok that got on Ash's nerve "Oh yeah? We'll see about that right Pikachu?" he held up his fist and turned to his trusty partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed in agreement.

"Oh no, no battles for you young man you need your rest!" Delia grabbed her son by the ear.

"But mom!" Ash protested. He hated when she did that.

"No buts! You're nowhere near fully recovered and you need to sleep!" She said sternly.

"But I'm not even tired!" Ash insisted. That wasn't true. Actually he was exhausted. After he'd woken up in hospital he was put on a long boat ride, then a plane and immediately brought to the Indigo Plateau where he still hadn't had a chance to rest. Plus that battle with Cynthia really took it out of him. He probably could have slept on the boat, he had a room with a bed after all, but sleeping wasn't really appealing after learning he'd been in a coma for three days straight.

"Your mom's right Ash" Gary sighed, also disappointed but taking it much more maturely. "You should rest. We already arranged to stay the night since it's already so late and you're not all that fit to journey back to Pallet Town"

"We're staying? Can't they take us back in a helicopter?" Ash asked, disappointment slowly filling him more and more.

"They're not a taxi service Ash we have to walk back" Gary sighed once more.

Great. First night back in Kanto and he wasn't even going to be sleeping in his own bed.

"It's only for one night Ash, it could be fun! Let's go find our rooms ok?" Delia said gently, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Ok" Ash gave up. "C'mon Pikachu"

Pikachu jumped up from his perch on one of the chairs and climbed onto Ash's shoulder. He then followed Gary and his mom to a service desk they had passed earlier. Gary walked up to the desk and the woman sitting behind it looked up from her computer. "Hi I'm Gary Oak and this is Delia and Ash Ketchum, we were wondering where we will be staying? Cynthia told us there were rooms organized for us" he asked politely.

"No trouble Mr. Oak I'll just look that up for you" the lady smiled and clicked away at her computer. Ash tried to stifle his giggles at Gary being called Mr. Oak but he must have heard him because Gary stomped on his foot without even turning around.

"Ahh here it is!" she woman turned to them again with her 'I'm happy to serve you!' smile plastered on her face. She pointed to her left "go straight down that hallway until you reach the elevator. Your rooms are on level 10. Mr. Oak and Mr. Ketchum you're together in room 1001 along with a Mr. Brock Harrison and Paul Shinji. Mrs. Ketchum your room is next door in room 1002 and you'll be sharing with a Miss Dawn Berlitz" she instructed and held out a couple room keys.

"Great thanks" Gary grabbed the keys and flashed her his trademark winning smile which made the girl blush. Ash rolled his eyes, Gary could be such a flirt.

Gary handed him one of the keys "You can go to the room, I'll wait for the others to come back"

"I think I'll wait too Professor Oak hasn't come back yet either" Delia chimed in.

"What? How come I'm the only one who has to go to bed?" Ash whined.

"Because we've both gotten a full nights rest and haven't been in hospital recently" Gary retorted and started walking back the way he came.

"Sorry honey but we'll all be back as soon as the others are finished" his mother promised and gave him a kiss on the forehead before walking after Gary.

Ash sighed. Usually he'd argue more about this sort of thing but he really was feeling tired. "Ok Pikachu looks like it's just you and me"

"Pikachu"

Ash walked down the hall to the elevator and pressed the button labeled 'floor 10'. The elevator shot up making his stomach drop. The doors dinged and opened revealing a fancy corridor with beautiful dark wooden doors with gold numbers lining up each side. "This place looks more like a five-star hotel than a League building" Ash commented in awe and Pikachu nodded in agreement.

Their room was the first on their left and Ash excitedly opened the door. The room was a moderate size, furnished with four poster beds, two desks each with a set of drawers, and a large red armchair in the corner. There was another door in the room which Ash guessed led to the bathroom. He could use a shower but now that he had seen that comfy looking bed his fatigue seemed to increase.

Ash chose the farthest bed on the left and lay down not bothering to change his clothes. He flung his bag on top of the desk and kicked off his shoes. He took off his hat and jacket and put them on top of the desk too. Pikachu curled up at the end of the bed and Ash lay for a moment thinking about the meeting with Lance and the pokémon council.

He didn't like the way they looked at him. Like he was… different. Especially that old man who yelled. He once really admired Lance and aspired to be as strong a trainer as he was but this whole situation made Ash's head spin. Was Lance on his side or not? Ash decided trying to figure everything out now would just give him an even worse headache so he closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

 _ **Begin dream sequence**_

Ash found himself on a battle field facing Paul and his Electivire. _Huh? Where am I?_ He wondered. _Oh yeah the Sinnoh League! I'm gonna win it for sure!_ Pikachu ran onto the field and Ash called out attack after attack, enjoying the thrill of battle.

Suddenly everything went dark. He couldn't see anything. " _Pikachu?"_ Ash called with no response in return. His lungs began to burn and he clutched at his throat. Then a man appeared in the darkness.

" _Fine. Then we'll make an example out of you"_ a voice rang out so loudly that Ash covered his ears in pain.

 _What's happening? Where am I?_ Ash was panicking. This scene felt familiar and he was frightened.

" _Who are you?!"_ He cried out to the man standing before him.

" _Salamance Hyper Beam!"_ The voice ordered.

A huge beam of orange light lit up the darkness. Ash screamed.

– _Pikachu's POV –_

Pikachu decided to wait until Ash had fallen asleep before it tried to rest itself. It didn't take long before Ash's breathing evened out, clearly tired after the day's events. Ash's mouth was open and his breath came out in little puffs. Satisfied that his trainer was now resting peacefully Pikachu closed its eyes, also keen to get some sleep.

Pikachu was only asleep for a few minutes when it started. Ash was fidgeting in his sleep and the movement woke it up quickly. It was immediately on alert. Ash kept twitching, his eyebrows knitted together and his lips pulled into a frown. Was he having a nightmare? Ash started groaning and his movements got more aggressive. Pikachu jumped off the bed and onto the desk before Ash could kick its face.

"Ughhhh" Ash moaned. His face contorted in what looked like a mix of pain and fear.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu tried waking up its trainer but its cries were drowned out by Ash's groaning.

Ash's teeth were now clenched and his fists balled up as he cried out. Pikachu was just about ready to wake him up with a light thundershock when a blue pulse travelled down Ash's body.

"Pika?" Pikachu twitched its ears in confusion. Another blue pulse occurred and Ash twitched again in response. Everything was still for a moment and Pikachu lowered its ears thinking that perhaps it was over now but then a particularly large one formed which made Ash groan louder. It was hurting him.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out again in concern. It couldn't use a thundershock to wake him now. It would only hurt him further. Ash was thrashing in his bed now and yelling in pain. He was covered in sweat and the blue pulses were now being accompanied by strange blue sparks which became larger and more frequent.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu gasped. It had to get help. Pikachu bolted to the door and broke it down with a quick attack and ran to the elevator. It would take too long to get to the tenth floor and then back down to the first. Pikachu spied a sign that pointed to a set of stairs and went in that direction instead. Using agility Pikachu sped down the stairs faster than the elevator ever could.

It ran past the service desk, the woman calling out a "Hey!" in annoyance but Pikachu ignored her heading straight to the waiting room where the others would be.

Pikachu burst into the room where Ash's mom and Gary were supposed to be and was surprised to find the others had finally returned but Delia was nowhere in sight.

"Pikachu! I thought you were going to sleep with Ash? Are you looking for Delia? Gramps finished up his meeting too and they both went to get something for everyone to eat. Is Ash too hungry to sleep or something?" Gary reached down to pet the electric pokémon behind the ears but Pikachu backed away. "Pikachu what's wrong?" he asked confused.

"Pikachu Pikapi pika chu chu pi pika!" it cried out in a panic trying to convey its message. The trainers all looked at each other in confusion but Brock suddenly looked up in understanding.

"Is something wrong with Ash?" he demanded.

"Pi! Pika chu pi pikapi chu chu chu!" Pikachu immediately took off down the hall and the others followed behind it.

Pikachu led them to the elevator, knowing they wouldn't be able to keep up on the stairs. Gary pushed the button for the tenth floor and they waited impatiently for the elevator to rise.

– _Gary's POV –_

"C'mon hurry up!" Gary shouted slamming his fist on the buttons. He should never had left Ash alone. What had happened? Was he attacked by Team Rocket? There weren't any alarms going off. Maybe it was the council? Were they going to arrest him after all?

The elevator finally reached their destination and Pikachu was the first to get off, Gary at its heels. They could hear Ash already. Pikachu ran into their room though the broken door and up to Ash's side. Gary followed in after it, glancing wearily at the broken remains of the door and freezing at the sight of Ash. He heard the others gasp behind him.

"Ash!" three different voices cried out at once and they ran to his side. Only Paul stayed behind in the doorway, looking at the scene with a grim expression.

"Oh Ash wake up!" Dawn cried trying to take one of his hands but it was wrenched out of her grasp when Ash had another fit of trashing.

"Move over" Brock pushed the others out the way so he could examine Ash.

"What's happening to him?" Dawn asked tearfully.

"I think he's having a nightmare but I don't know what the blue stuff is" Gary responded trying to help Brock hold Ash down. He cried out in pain and retracted his hands when he touched the blue sparks.

"Pikachu pika pi!" Pikachu growled from his spot on the table.

"Don't touch him" Brock ordered holding up one hand.

"It must be Ash's aura" he murmured.

"Aura?" Gary asked "what do you mean his aura?" Gary demanded. He knew little about aura. Being a researcher specializing in ancient pokémon he'd come across the term before but didn't know all that much about it. He knew Riolu and Lucario used aura to communicate and create aura spheres but beyond that he was lost.

"No time to explain now just help me out!" Brock shouted and held Ash down again as he started thrashing around again. Gary immediately rushed to his side and grabbed Ash's legs, ignoring the pain that shot up his arms every time that weird blue light pulsated down Ash's body.

Slowly Ash stopped flailing his arms and legs. His moans had now turned into whimpers. The blue sparks began to recede and he had curled into a feeble position.

"Ok I think he's calming down now" Brock panted, wiping sweat from his brow and releasing his hold on Ash. Gary did the same and for a moment the room was silent. Pikachu cautiously moved from the table onto the bed and sniffed his trainer.

"Pika" it sighed and curled up against Ash's side, relieved it was over now.

"What the heck just happened?" Gary asked bewildered.

Brock and Dawn avoided his gaze while Gary turned from one to the other demanding an explanation.

"We might as well tell him" Paul spoke from the doorway, grabbing everyone's attention. "He's seen it so there's no point hiding it now"

"Tell me what? What happened to Ash?" Gary got up from the floor and stalked over to Paul and gave him his best glare.

"It's a long story" Paul replied not backing down.

"Then you'd better get started" Gary snapped.

 **Ok how was that? Did you guys like Pikachu's perspective? I know some of you wanted a battle this chapter and to find out more about Team Rocket and the Council's plans but it'll all be in the next chapter which hopefully won't take long to get up! Also how long do you prefer the chapters? And please don't think I'm hating on Paul here cuz of his attitude, I love Paul! Thank you for all your reviews! I tried to answer as many as I could bar the ones that don't allowing private messaging. Please remember to review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Friend or Foe?**

– _Gary's POV_ –

Once Paul had finished explaining what happened in the meeting with Lance earlier Gary felt his knees buckle. He sat on the ground and ran his hand through his hair, glancing wearily at Ash who was now sleeping peacefully, Pikachu curled up under his chin for comfort.

"So you're telling me, that you all think Ash is some supernatural being who can use some ancient power called aura and during the tournament he used it to defend himself which not only hurt him anyway but he can't even remember it?" Gary asked still trying to wrap his head around it.

"Yeah that about sums it up" Paul replied indifferently.

"Right" Gary took a deep breath and frowned at Ash. "I guess it _does_ explain some stuff though" he mused.

Brock looked at him confusedly "What do you mean?" he asked.

Gary lifted himself up off the floor and moved to lean against the desk, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as he thought. "Don't you think it's weird that Ash gets attacked by pokémon all the time but until now he's never been seriously hurt?"

"You _want_ him to get hurt?" Dawn looked appalled.

Gary shook his head "No! What I mean is I've known Ash for a long time, he's pretty resilient but ever since he set out on his journey he's been in more life threatening positions than I'd like to count. He always brushes off Pikachu's electric attacks and other attacks like they're nothing. I know he says he's just used to it but Pikachu's thunderbolt isn't anything to sneeze at, it could easily knock a person out. Charizard used to fry him all the time too, and not always in that affectionate way where your pokémon holds back its power. Charizard was going all out sometimes which would cause serious burns on a normal person. But this guy?" he used his thumb to point at their sleeping friend "he'll just cough up a puff of smoke and start telling Charizard off. That's not normal."

He could see Dawn and Brock seriously considering his theory by their expressions, they travelled with Ash so they knew exactly how often an occurrence this was. Paul's face remained impassive on the subject. "So what does that have to do with Ash's aura?" Dawn wondered aloud.

"Well, his aura came out to protect him when that Salamance attacked right? What if it's been doing that all along? Just more subtle, kind of like an internal shield. Just enough so the attacks don't seriously hurt him and when Salamance attacked, the power was just too great that he needed a bigger shield so his aura was forced out to make an _external_ shield" he speculated.

Brock and Dawn looked down at Ash, eyes widening in shock while Paul let out an apprehensive "hn".

"So everything Ash is doing is subconscious?" Brock asked trying to gather their thoughts together.

Gary nodded, "at least that's what appears to be the case".

Ash stirred in his sleep and the others froze. He mumbled something inaudible but didn't wake up and Gary let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Maybe its best we continue this conversation later" he said his voice dropping to a whisper. "I think someone should stay with Ash at all times to make sure this doesn't happen again, we should set up shifts so someone is awake at night to watch him too. We should also inform Lance of what happened". Dawn and Brock quickly agreed but Paul simply scowled.

"You expect me to babysit that idiot?" he sneered.

" _You_ don't have to do anything." Gary growled. He was fed up with Paul's attitude. What was that jerk's problem anyway? "We'll take care of Ash ourselves".

"Hn. See if I care." Paul began to walk out the room but paused at the door, now broken thanks to Pikachu's haste in finding someone to help its trainer. "But if I were you, I wouldn't be running to Lance so quickly" he exited the room without another glance and left Gary wondering what exactly he meant. He did have a point though. From now on they'd need to be extra careful who they could trust.

Gary turned his attention to Brock and Dawn who were still standing in the corner watching the door. "You guys go ahead and meet up with gramps and Mrs. K for dinner. They'll be wondering where we all are. Make sure you don't say anything about what happened. I'll take the first watch".

Brock and Dawn exchanged glances but nodded and headed for the door. Now alone with Ash, Gary kneeled down beside the bed, studying his best friend's face. "What trouble have you gotten yourself in now Ashy boy?" he whispered, his hands tightening into fists as he clutched the blanket like his life, or rather Ash's, depended on it.

– _Paul's POV_ –

Paul walked down the many corridors with no real destination in mind. His mind was filled with thoughts of the events that had transpired over the past couple days. Who knew that loser was something so… so _weird_? Now Paul could understand why he was able to bring out so much power in his pokémon, he even unlocked Chimchar's real strength which Paul admitted that he himself could not do.

Still. That didn't mean Paul was under any obligation to look after the dimwit. The only reason he was even here was because Cynthia asked and said he'd be able to meet Lance. Those losers were starting to mistake him to be part of their group and he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Tch. I have no reason to stay. Everyone knows I don't travel around with that loser so there's no harm in leaving. I'm outta here." Paul spoke aloud to himself and started to turn around to find an exit when he heard voices coming from within one of the nearby rooms.

He paused and was about to continue on his way when one of them said Ash's name, catching his attention. He snuck closer to the door, which was slightly open and decided to listen in a little. Maybe he'd find out how long they expected them all to be here.

"Are you sure?" a voice asked in a harsh whisper.

"Undoubtedly" the other replied. "The boy is the one."

 _Are they talking about Ash?_ Paul thought to himself. _He's the one? The one for what?_ He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he waited for them to continue.

"Look at these records. His file was sealed, quite unusual for your average trainer don't you think?" The second voice continued.

"His trainer file? Why would his records be sealed? What is Lance hiding from me?" the first voice spoke again. Paul's eyes widened in realization as he recognized the voice belonged to the older man from the council meeting, the one who spoke out against Lance.

"Well the boy is quite the trainer, a variety of powerful pokémon, a few major accomplishments in league tournaments, and it seems he often finds himself in the middle of many… incidents involving some rare and powerful pokémon. Not to mention he's been involved in stopping numerous criminal activities. The boy is quite the trouble maker" Mifune noted.

"What shall we do sir?" the second voice asked.

"We can't let him leave. I need to get Lance out of the way first and that annoying Sinnoh champion too. As long as they're around they won't let us touch the boy." Mifune grunted.

"And his friends?" the second voice asked again.

"They're not needed. Get rid of them." Mifune replied. Paul heard footsteps heading towards the door and quickly ducked behind a large potted plant in the hallway. Mifune stepped out the room and a small, skinny man with a clipboard followed after him.

"Get rid of them sir?" The small man with the clipboard asked timidly.

Mifune's face turned into an evil sneer as he spoke. "Accidents are oh so unfortunate aren't they? Young people should be more careful" his words hung in the air, his message clear. The smaller man gulped and nodded.

"Of course sir I'll see the arrangements are made", he quickly sprinted down the hall. Mifune watched him go then swept his eyes over the plant in suspicion. Paul ducked even lower, holding his breath and hoping the plant was thick enough to hide him. After a few moments he could hear Mifune leaving as well. He silently counted to thirty before moving from his hiding place. The door to the room they were just in was still open so Paul decided to take a quick look at what they were so concerned about.

The room was dark, he couldn't see anything. Paul searched for a light switch, turning it on and the room suddenly became illuminated. It was small, with only a desk with a computer on top to furnish it. Paul sat down at the desk and clicked on a tab at the bottom of the page. _This must be what they were looking at_ Paul thought.

The file he opened turned out to indeed be Ash's trainer file. The first page was filled with basic information, such as his personal records and trainer information.

 **Name:** _Ash Ketchum_

 **D.O.B:** _1 April, 1996_

 **Hometown:** _Pallet Town, Kanto_

 **Occupation:** _Trainer_

Paul scrolled down until he found Ash's pokédex information showing all his owned pokémon and history. He clicked on a link which led him to a new page which was filled with pictures of pokémon. He recognized a few as the ones Ash currently had. They were lit up with the word 'ACTIVE', the rest were unlit with the word 'INACTIVE' or in a few cases, black and white with the words 'RELEASED'. If he clicked on a picture, information regarding that particular pokémon such as height, weight, gender, level and circumstances caught would appear. Paul was surprised by the amount of pokémon Ash owned. He had some really high leveled pokémon! Why didn't he use them? If he had, Ash could have defeated him long ago. He knew Ash wasn't a new trainer when they'd first met but he'd been travelling for this long? Paul continued to look at his pokémon list, noting all the more powerful ones and the notes written underneath.

 **Pokémon owned:**

 _Pikachu (starter: ACTIVE)_

 _Caterpie → Metapod → Butterfree (RELEASED)_

 _Raticate (Traded away)_

 _Pidgeotto → Pidgiot (RELEASED)_

 _Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard (training at Charicific Valley)_

 _Bulbasaur_

 _Squirtle (joined firefighting service)_

 _Krabby → Kingler_

 _Snorlax_

 _Lapras (RELEASED)_

 _Beedrill (RELEASED)_

 _Muk_

 _Treeko → Grovyle → Sceptile_

 _Corphish_

 _Taillow → Swellow_

 _Snorunt → Glalie_

 _Tauros (X30)_

 _Cyndaquil_

 _Chickorita → Bayleef_

 _Heracross_

 _Noctowl (shiny)_

 _Todadile_

 _Phanpy → Donphan_

 _Torkoal_

 _Starly → Staravia → Staraptor (ACTIVE)_

 _Turtwig → Grotle →Torterra (ACTIVE)_

 _Chimchar → Monferno → Infernape (ACTIVE)_

 _Buizel (ACTIVE)_

 _Gligar → Gliscor (ACTIVE)_

 _Gible_

 _Primape (In training elsewhere)_

 _Aipom (traded away)_

 _Haunter (unofficial capture)_

 _Larvitar (unofficial capture)_

 _Holy crap_. Ash had a lot of pokémon. Paul grit his teeth at the knowledge that Ash could have used any of these pokémon at any time to beat him yet still preferred to start over in each region. How weak. He then clicked on another link which listed all of the accomplishments Ash had attained over his years as a trainer.

 **Accomplishments:**

Kanto Badges

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Marsh Badge

Rainbow Badge

Soul Badge

Volcano Badge

Earth Badge

Orange Archipelago Badges

Coral-Eye Badge

Sea Ruby Badge

Spike Shell Badge

Jade Star Badge

Johto Badges

Zephyr Badge

Hive Badge

Plain Badge

Fog Badge

Storm Badge

Mineral Badge

Glacier Badge

Rising Badge

Hoenn Badges

Stone Badge

Knuckle Badge

Dynamo Badge

Heat Badge

Balance Badge

Feather Badge

Mind Badge

Rain Badge

Frontier Symbols

Knowledge Symbol

Guts Symbol

Tactics Symbol

Luck Symbol

Spirit Symbol

Ability Symbol

Brave Symbol

Sinnoh Badges

Coal Badge

Forest Badge

Cobble Badge

Fen Badge

Relic Badge

Mine Badge

Icicle Badge

Beacon Badge

Pokémon League ranking

Indigo Plateau Conference - Top 16

Orange League - Champion

Silver Conference - Top 8

Ever Grande Conference - Top 8

Frontier Challenge - Complete (Offered position of frontier brain – denied)

Lily of the Valley Conference – INCOMPLETE

There were some links underneath a few of the accomplishments and upon clicking them Paul was able to watch videos of some of the battles Ash had been in to win these badges and earn those top places in the different leagues. Paul was now sweating. The way Ash looked when he battled was totally different. He looked _strong._ He pulled off maneuvers Paul never would have thought possible. Ash was a way more accomplished trainer than Paul originally thought. Could he really have won their match in the Sinnoh league? He was confident back then but now a bit of doubt crept its way inside him. If Ash ever decided to use his more experienced pokémon, he'd win for sure.

"Dammit!" Paul slammed his fist on the desk in frustration. How could that fool be a better trainer than him? That guy, who preached about the importance of friendship with pokémon, who was an idiot when it came to basic strategic knowledge, whose training methods were nowhere near intense or serious enough. How could he ever lose to him?

Something tugged at the back of Paul's mind. He thought back to the conversation between the old man and the wimp. Something about rare and powerful pokémon? And criminal activities? Paul continued searching through Ash's profile and came across a blacked out section. "What's this?" he asked aloud. He tried clicking on several links but every time he did a pop up would appear saying 'Restricted Access' and asking for a password. "What the heck? Why would a trainer profile need a password? This is supposed to be completely accessible if I'm using a council member's login. They have access to everything!" _or do they?_ Paul thought suddenly. _The guy said 'what is Lance hiding from me?' so does this mean Lance made Ash's trainer profile inaccessible to anyone else?_ Paul's mind ran a mile a minute as he thought of all the possibilities that Lance could have done such a thing. _But the old guy was able to get in. That's why he said Ash had done those things. So he found the password somehow?_

Paul was mulling this over when another thought came to him. _Get rid of them_. That's what he said. "Oh crap" he jumped out the chair and ran from the room. Sprinting back towards the direction he came.

– _Dawn's POV –_

Dawn was relieved Gary had volunteered to take the first watch. As much as she cared and was concerned about her friend, she wasn't keen on being in a room alone with him after the phenomenon she just witnessed. Like seriously the guy turned _blue_.

"Hellooo Dawn?" Brock waved a hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" Dawn looked up in surprise.

"Did you hear me? I said I'm going to go find Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum and help them cook" Brock said slightly annoyed.

'Oh sorry. I was just thinking" Dawn apologized. She looked up at the older boy who was still waiting by her side despite his claims of leaving. "…what do you think Paul meant by not telling Lance?" she asked hesitantly.

Brock stretched his mouth into a thin line "Paul is not what you call a people person. He's obviously got some trust issues and doesn't want to include Lance in that small group he _does_ trust. But… I think he has a point".

"You agree with him?" Dawn was shocked. She thought surely that Brock, being the eldest and most responsible of the group, would want to let Lance and the League know about Ash.

Brock shook his head "Not entirely. I think Lance does need to know, but not straight away. We need to figure out who we can trust here. I don't know if you noticed but it seems that not everyone is on Lance's, and consequently our, side"

Dawn nodded. She remembered the man who shouted in the meeting. She definitely didn't want him finding out about Ash. "So what do we do?" She asked.

"We wait. We'll tell Lance when the time is right" Brock said firmly. "I'm gonna go find Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum now. Get some rest, you're tired too". He said now switching into a more gentle tone that Dawn was familiar with. Brock was always caring for the two of them, it made Dawn happy that she had such a good friend.

"Alright. Wake me when the food is ready" Brock nodded and waved as he walked away. Dawn sighed and began to set off for her own room when she heard loud footsteps down the hall like someone was running. "What the – OOF!" Dawn was knocked to the ground hard. "Hey watch where you're going!" she began when she noticed who it was that ran into her. "Paul? Why are you running? You better apologize right now!" She huffed.

"Shut up!" the boy snapped as he stepped around her and started towards Ash's room.

Dawn grabbed his arm and held it firmly, stopping him in his tracks. "Hey! That was really rude! What's your problem?!" she asked angrily.

Paul glared at her and she glared right back. "Let go we don't have time for this we need to leave _right now_ " he growled lowly.

Dawn's eyebrow's creased in confusion however she made no move to let go of his arm. "What do you mean? We have to stay here we're under league protection remember?" she reminded him.

"It's not safe here we need to go" he tried pulling his arm away but Dawn had a tight grip.

"Why? Lance said-"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT LANCE SAID! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Paul shouted, cutting her off.

Gary then stepped through the broken door, interrupting the two. "What the hell is going on out here? You're gonna wake Ash up" he whispered harshly.

Paul immediately spun and faced him "we need to go _now_ " he repeated seriously.

"Why? What's happened?" Gary asked picking up that something was wrong straight away.

"I overheard one of the council members, an old fat looking guy who yelled in the middle of our meeting before, he said he 'needed' Ash and was going to get rid of Lance, Cynthia and all of us to get to him"

All the colour drained from Gary's face and Dawn looked horror stricken. "Get… rid… of us?" she mouthed the words slowly and quietly so the boys were barely able to hear her.

Paul nodded and turned to Gary again "we need to get out of here now".

Now it was Gary's turn to nod, then he faced Dawn and asked "where's Brock?"

"h-he went to find Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum" she answered shakily.

"Go get him back. Don't tell my gramps or Mrs. K what's going on yet, I'll leave a message for him myself explaining everything. We're leaving. NOW" Gary raced back into the room, presumably to go wake Ash. Dawn had no idea what he planned on telling him but she didn't get to find out because Paul was suddenly in her face and pushing her towards the elevator.

"What are you just standing there for? Go! And look out for that guy from the meeting!" Without so much as a protest Dawn was shoved inside the elevator, the last thing she saw before the doors closed was Paul's back, walking away from her.

– _Ash's POV_ –

He was in the dark again. Rationally, he knew he was just dreaming and that he would wake up soon enough. There was a part of him though that was frightened, frightened that he never would wake up and that he'd be stuck alone in this darkness forever.

He'd been in the dark for a while now actually and frankly, Ash was bored. Did time always move this slowly in dreams? Surely not. Usually he'd dream about catching a new and rare pokémon or becoming a pokémon master. Sometimes he'd dream about old adventures, he liked those ones; or adventures that seemed familiar but he could never quite remember. Those dreams scared him. The worst one was when he had to watch pokémon fight each other, not in a regular pokémon battle but to the death. Two pokémon in particular, whose shapes he can't quite make out, are fighting the hardest. He screams at them to stop, running right into the middle of the battle field, but then… he can't remember the end of the dream.

Still. Even that would be better than this darkness. Who knew you could miss nightmares?

"Ash wake up!"

Slowly Ash opened his eyes and peered through his eyelashes, trying to adjust to the light. "Ughh my head" he moaned as he tried to shake the drowsiness. Though he'd thought he'd slept for a decent amount of time he felt more worn out than when he went to bed in the first place. He whole body felt stiff like he'd been shocked by one of Pikachu's thunderbolts. As he finally blinked the blurriness from his eyes he was able to make out an image of the person standing over him. "Gary?"

His longtime friend turned the corners of his mouth into a smirk "'bout time you woke up Ashy boy".

Ash scowled, "you're the one who told me to go to bed!" he retorted, sticking out his tongue.

Gary simply rolled his eyes and tugged on his arm "Get up we have to get going".

Ash, who'd now woken up Pikachu (all the while giving his most 'trusted' pokémon suspicious looks wondering whether he'd been shocked in his sleep again which had happened on more than one occasion) and was thinking about going to ask his mother about getting something to eat, looked up at his old time rival in puzzlement. "Get going? Where? I thought we were staying here the night?"

Gary shrugged, "Lance said we could go since he was done asking questions. None of us are keen on staying here anyway, I have to get back to the lab and finish some research and I figured you'd want to see your pokémon as soon as possible" he reasoned however Ash noticed Gary avoided eye contact.

"Uhh ok… where are the others?" Ash asked.

"Dawn's getting Brock and Paul's waiting in the hall. He wants to get out of here quickly too. You know he's not exactly people friendly" Gary explained as he gestured to the door. Too late he realized Ash would note something amiss.

"What the hell happened to the door?!" Ash exclaimed upon noticing the destroyed entrance. Bits and pieces were still stuck to the frame but most of it was in splinters on the floor.

Gary notably winced "uhh…. Pikachu was playing around with Piplup while you were asleep and they broke the door?"

Ash studied his friend for a moment before shrugging and accepting the explanation. Gary sighed in relief. Ash picked up Pikachu and held him in front of his face. "You and Piplup need to be more careful Pikachu that's gonna be expensive to fix!" he scolded.

Pikachu lowered his ears and let out a small "pika" in protest, but upon seeing Gary wave his arms behind Ash's back to indicate to just go with it Pikachu gave in and nodded. Seeing that Pikachu had understood his chastisement Ash smiled and allowed him to climb onto his shoulder.

"Ok let's go then!" He grabbed the rest of his clothes and his backpack, stumbling slightly. Gary held out a hand to steady him but Ash waved it away. "I'm fine, I'm just not as well rested as I thought I'd be" he assured. Gary made no reply and pursed his lips instead.

"Ok I'll just go say goodbye to Lance and Cynthia and we can meet up with Professor Oak and Mom and-" Ash began before he was swiftly cut off.

"No!" Gary grabbed his shoulder and then flinched and quickly drew his hand back. "I mean, Lance already said goodbye to the rest of us while you were sleeping and now he's gone to do some important stuff for the league, you know to sort out the whole attack on the Lily of the Valley conference. Professor Oak is staying for a while to help and your Mom said she'd stay behind too" the words spilled out his mouth quickly.

"Oh. Ok, I guess we can just go then" Ash said disappointedly. He was looking forward to speaking with Lance properly and to travelling with the professor and his mom. Gary sighed in relief and Ash looked at him strangely but then shrugged and kept moving, Gary right behind him. Literally right behind him, he was practically stepping on Ash's heels. "Hey quit it Gary haven't you ever heard of personal space?" Ash elbowed his friend so he'd be forced to step back. Gary didn't say anything but kept his distance, albeit only about two steps worth.

Stepping over the broken remains of the door Ash made his way into the hall and looked around. "I thought you said Paul was waiting for us out here?" he asked Gary who was also looking around. Gary's head moved left to right like he was watching a tennis match. "He must've gone on ahead?" the brunette answered nervously.

Ash narrowed his eyes "Are you ok? You're acting really weird" he noted.

Gary sweat dropped and raised his hands in defense "No! I mean of course I am! I just really want to get home quickly to finish that research". Ash and Pikachu exchanged disbelieving looks but instead of pushing the subject Ash made his way toward the elevator thinking that if his friend had something to tell him, he eventually would.

The ride in the elevator was quiet minus the music playing overhead. Once they'd reached the first floor though Gary pulled Ash out and behind a wall. "Gary?! What the heck are you doing?" Ash shrugged off his arm annoyed, straightening his hat and checking that Pikachu remained clung to his shoulder.

"Uhh… I'm… uhh training! Yeah training!" Gary hastily replied.

"Training?" Asked Ash, intrigued by what was surely a new and genius tactic by his researcher friend.

Gary smiled, mention anything about pokémon training and Ash was hooked, line and sinker. "That's right! It's a new training technique I learned while I was uhh studying some ancient ruins! Yeah this is an old technique that the very first pokémon trainers used!"

Ash looked at him with eyes shining in excitement "really?! That's awesome can I train too?!" he exclaimed eagerly.

"Shhh!" Gary put a finger on his mouth "Yes! But uhh this training is secret! You have to be quiet" Ash nodded enthusiastically and remained silent with a steely look in his as well as Pikachu's eyes. "Ok this training is about umm stealth!"

"Stealth?" Ash whispered quizzically.

Gary nodded "Yep! Ancient civilizations found stealth to be a critical part of training! They trained with their pokémon so they could learn to move quietly and sneak up on their opponents and avoid attacks without command!" the lies poured out Gary's mouth naturally.

"That makes total sense!" Ash whispered excitedly, pumping his fist in the air. He suspected absolutely nothing and was instead concentrating on the new 'training method'.

"haha sure does…" Gary sweat dropped in disbelief. Who else but Ash would buy this stuff?

"Let's do our best ok Pikachu?" Ash whispered determinedly to his partner.

"Pika!"

"So what do we do?" Ash asked turning his attention back to Gary.

"uhhh well… lets train while we find the others! Yeah let's find Dawn, Brock and Paul without anyone noticing us and then we have to sneak out of here" Gary explained, this was the perfect way to sneak Ash out without him getting suspicious.

"Sneak out the most protected building in all of Kanto? THIS IS GREAT FOR TRAINING!" Ash was already in stealth mode, crouched down and peeking around the corner in search for anyone who might have spotted them. "Let's go Pikachu! Super spy Ash is ready for his mission to go underway!" he crept along the floor, careful not to make a noise.

Gary watched him from behind and sighed in amusement then mimicked Ash's movements, despite feeling quite stupid as he did so. He couldn't forget that this was no game; they seriously had to avoid everyone and get out before they were found and Ash was… he shuddered at the possibilities.

– _Lance's POV –_

Once Paul had stormed out the room with Brock and Dawn trailing after him upon learning that they were under 'league protection' and hence forth could not leave, Lance sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair, "well that certainly could have gone better" he commented lightly.

Cynthia threw him a sharp glare. "Did you really need to snap like that? He's still just a kid you know" she reprimanded.

Lance scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "Well that kid was starting to tick me off. Besides no matter how we told him he wasn't going to like it" he rebutted ruefully. "At least here we can protect them from Teams Rocket and Galactic. The only issue is…" he trailed off.

"The council members who backed Mifune" Cynthia finished. The two champions shared dismayed expressions at the thought of the political battle that would eventually ensue. "Will you be alright?" Cynthia asked worriedly. As the Sinnoh champion, she was technically only here as a witness to the incident and as a Sinnoh representative. She had no place in any decision making amongst a different league. Lance was on his own.

"I can take care of Mifune. That pretentious fool will never win the president's position while I'm around. Besides Goodshow is no pushover he can take care of himself. All we need to do is convince the other council members to see things our way. Of course that's excluding the members that Mifune has already probably bribed and blackmailed" Lance said the last sentence with disgust.

"And Ash?"

"You and I both know that kid is way too stubborn to be taken down by the likes of someone like Mifune" Lance brushed her off.

"That's not what I meant" the blonde said coldly. Lance raised an eyebrow in questioning. Cynthia sighed. Lance reminded her of Ash in this sort of aspect. They could both be so dense. "How do you think Ash is feeling right now?" she pushed but was only met with silence. Lance had no answer. "in the last week he's been in several intense matches in order to win the Sinnoh league only to have his most important match interrupted and get attacked by two of the most dangerous criminal organisations in the world. He's in a coma for three days and as soon as he wakes up we drag him here and question him. Agatha said that emotional stress could activate his aura right? So what do you think is going to happen when Ash reaches his breaking point?" she waited for an answer while the impact of what she said left Lance stunned.

" You think he's gonna crack?" Lance said weakly, the weight of this new development making him even more tired than he already was.

"I think he's a sixteen year old boy who's gone through a lot and hasn't had a chance to properly confront it yet" Cynthia replied.

Crap. She had a point. This whole time Lance was so concerned about learning what happened and protecting Ash from outside threats that he hadn't even thought Ash could be a threat to himself.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Lance asked, now honestly seeking her advice.

"Ash needs to come to terms with everything that's happened"

"But we've already told him everything aside from his connection to aura" Lance said confused.

Cynthia shook her head. "He knows what happened but he needs to _acknowledge_ it. He needs to talk to someone" she explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"you want me to have a heart to heart with him?'' Lance said unenthusiastically.

Again the Sinnoh champion shook her head and sighed. "Not _you_. He needs someone who knows him well. Who understands him completely and that he can open up to".

"So one of his friends then? His mother perhaps?" Lance sighed with relief, glad he was not the one who would be tasked with trying to understand the teen's feelings.

"Perhaps" Cynthia said bemused. "but I think a friend is what he needs and that boy has got some good friends".

…

After their brief talk about how Ash needed to talk out his feelings Lance excused himself from Cynthia's company and took to wandering around the hallways. Lance liked the kid sure, but he was never quite sure how to actually _be_ around them. He had a lot of young fans, he gave speeches about how the will to never give up and proper training could make anyone a great trainer, but to have an actual conversation with one of them was a different story. He was never sure what was the right thing to say. He thought he'd actually been doing pretty well so far until Cynthia had basically told him that he totally failed just then. Ok maybe that was being a little dramatic but it really got to him.

He was just thinking about popping over to Ash's room to give him a bit of a pep talk and maybe encourage the others to talk things out with him when something flew around the corner and crashed into him. Being as tall and strong as he was he barely stumbled while the thing crashed down onto the floor.

"Dawn?" Lance was surprised. "What are you doing here?" he asked as offered a hand to help her up "this is a restricted area you kids are supposed to stay on the first and tenth floors".

The tiny bluenette shyly accepted his hand and he easily pulled her up. "Sorry I was looking for Brock but I wasn't sure where the kitchens were…"

"The kitchens are on the second floor but we have chefs who will cook for you there's no need for any of you to go to any trouble" he assured her.

The girl's eyes lit up "Oh but Brock enjoys cooking and his food is really great! You should-" she cut herself off as her eyes widened and she looked as nervous as when they first ran into each other.

"Dawn? Is everything alright?"

"Sorry I got off track I have to go find Brock" she lowered her head to avoid eye contact and quickly tried to dodge around him but Lance narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Wait Dawn what's going on?"

"Nothing no need to worry!" She put on a pathetic attempt of a smile.

"That's when people worry most" he shot back and the fake smile dropped.

"I…" she trailed off and Lance waited while she found her words.

Little did he know Dawn was having an internal struggle in her mind. She felt like she should tell Lance what happened with Ash earlier in his sleep and what Paul had found out but Paul also said not to trust Lance. Could he be right?

Finally Dawn looked up "Who was that man? The one who talked in the meeting before?"

Her sudden question surprised Lance. Could her worry have something to do with him? "You mean Mifune? Why?"

"Well… what kind of person is he?" another unusual question popped from her mouth.

Lance thought carefully before answering. "Mifune has been on the council for a long time now. He worked his way up from the bottom and carries a lot of favour amongst the board. He's rich and powerful and not a man you want to get on the bad side of but he has the best interests of the league in mind".

Dawn simply nodded in return.

"Why do you ask?" Lance pried.

"Paul heard… never mind" Dawn hastily changed her mind about telling him whatever she was about to say. Dammit. If Mifune was questioning or frightening these kids then Lance would need to talk to him and put him in his place.

"Dawn if he speaks to you or you see or hear anything out of the ordinary you should tell me ok?" he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her scared, blue eyes.

"yes" she whispered although Lance did not notice her fingers crossed behind her back.

He nodded satisfied "I'll escort you to the kitchens then" he offered his arm, this time however she did not take it and instead chose to walk on her own. Together they awkwardly got into the elevator and pressed the button for floor 2. Not a word passed between them during the ride and as soon as the doors opened she flew out the doors, following the sign that pointed toward the kitchens.

' _Do I really make kids that nervous? Good thing I'm not having that heart to heart with Ash'_ Lance thought to himself and went to follow her.

"Ahh Lance!" a voice called out to him, stopping his pursuit of the girl. Turning around Lance saw with disdain that Mifune was walking up to him, his hand in the air and his pot belly jiggling under his expensive looking shirt.

"Mifune… what brings you to the kitchens?" Lance asked politely though in his head he thought that Mifune was probably interested in eating all the snacks again as he had done on more than one occasion.

"I heard dinner was being prepared and came down to help!" Mifune grinned but Lance saw straight through his lie. But for the sake of the league he couldn't risk being on further bad terms with Mifune.

"Ahh Lance I actually wanted to speak to you too" Mifune said humbly, raising Lance's suspicion further.

"What about?" he asked the older man.

"About before, in the meeting, I wanted to apologise for my… discourtesy" Mifune put on an insincere sorry expression which made Lance gag on the inside. "I want to apologise to those kids too, I must have scared the poor boy with my rambling! Where is he?" Mifune looked around as if Ash would appear out of thin air.

"Resting most likely. The children had a long journey and he's still recovering from his injuries, I think it'd be best to leave him be" Lance emphasized the last three words. Mifune's eyes flashed for a moment before returning to his phony caring face.

"Of course. I shall wait for him to recover then. I do look forward to talking with him" Mifune went to push past him but Lance gripped the man's heavy arm.

"I think it would be in everyone's best interest to not involve the children any further, especially Ash" Lance spoke through gritted teeth, his hatred toward Mifune seething within him.

"I believe you are mistaken my dear champion. I think it is in everyone's best interest that we keep these children as close as possible until the matter is resolved. They are in our protective custody after all. What could be safer than being right within our reach?" Ripping his arm out of Lance's grip, Mifune smirked and began to walk away.

Lance's hand twitched toward one of his pokéballs, prepared to set Dragonite on the arrogant bastard, but then remembered he was supposed to be following Dawn and left to find her again.

He made it to the kitchen just in time to see Dawn whispering hurriedly to Brock who immediately ripped off his apron and apologized to Mrs. Ketchum, asking her to finish off the cooking. He then quickly ran past him with Dawn right at his heels.

"Hey guys wait up!" He called after them and went to follow but Mrs. Ketchum had come up beside him and grabbed his arm.

"Perhaps it's best to leave them alone for now. These kids can take care of themselves you know" she said calmly. Her eyes twinkled like she knew something that he didn't and he gave her an inquisitive look. In the end her words go to him and he relaxed, choosing to let them go on ahead.

Lance watched them speed around the corner but in the pit of his stomach he had a feeling that he'd regret letting them go.

– _Ash's POV –_

Ash and co had successfully managed to sneak past the front receptionist without being exposed and was currently heading for the stairs, the kitchen being their goal as that's where Brock and the others were supposed to be.

"Let's go Pikachu!" he whispered encouragingly to his partner who was beside him on all fours, practicing moving without making a sound. Together they did an army roll across the hallway and ducked into an empty room. He made the signal for Gary to follow and was disappointed when Gary did not mimic his 'spy techniques' and instead chose to quietly walk in with his head lowered.

"What's the point of doing this training if you're not gonna take it seriously Gary?!" Ash whispered annoyed.

"The _point_ is to not be discovered not to look like an idiot while doing it" the brunette rebuked.

Ash scowled. "You won't be so smug when you get caught and I don't" he huffed.

Gary shrugged, not to be the one dragged into arguments but rather start them as he did so often with his younger friend (although their birthdays were only a few months apart).

Getting back to the matter at hand Ash tiptoed out the room and peeked around the corner of the staircase to check if it was clear. Seeing that it was empty he sent a thumbs up to his 'partner' and began to climb. This was harder than he thought as the stairs sometimes creaked and he had to carefully shift his weight so as to not make a noise.

He felt something bump into him from behind and a muffled voice harshly whispered "move your butt slowpoke!" He turned around to see Gary rubbing his nose. Evidently he hadn't been paying enough attention and run into Ash's backpack.

Ash grinned "betcha wish you were being serious now don't cha Gary?" he teased.

Gary smirked "Please this is a result of your carelessness as a trainer". Ash rolled his eyes and kept going, his training more important that winning an argument with Gary (although the way he saw it he won anyway). They'd almost made it to the second floor when the door leading toward it burst open and Dawn and Brock appeared, running down the stairs and finally reuniting the group.

"Guys? Why are you running?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Ash?!" the two also cried out in surprise.

"What are you doing up here? I thought we were leaving!" Dawn asked, looking behind her nervously.

"We were looking for you guys. Gary taught me this cool new training technique and we were trying it out while we looked!" the raven haired boy said proudly.

Brock raised an eyebrow "new training technique?"

Ash nodded enthusiastically while Gary averted his eyes and turned slightly pink, an unusual but welcome sight. "Yeah Gary told me he found out about it when he was doing all that research! It's all about bonding with your pokémon while keeping your opponent guessing!"

Ash then went on to spiel about how he and Gary had snuck around the receptionist and, he swore in all honesty, twenty league agents to get there (although Gary was shaking his head in the background and making motions indicating that it was only the receptionist).

"Sounds great Ash! How about we put that training on hold while we get out of here?" Brock suggested.

"Wait what about Paul?" Dawn then looked around confused as if Paul would appear if she looked hard enough. "I thought he was with you?"

"He was but after you left and I went to wake Ash he disappeared" Gary spoke up in a worried tone that he hoped Ash wouldn't notice.

"Ahh Paul will be fine. He doesn't travel with us anyway I'm sure he'd much rather be on his own! Let's just go, mom and Professor Oak will meet us at home later right? If we go now we can go to the ranch and see the pokémon before it really gets dark!" Ash waved off their concern and motioned for Pikachu to jump on his shoulder again.

The others looked at each other in worry but they needed to get Ash out as soon as possible and Paul could take care of himself. He never said he'd go with them either.

"Ok let's go then" Gary seconded Ash's suggestion earning him an 'alright!' from his fellow Pallet town local.

Together the group set off, deciding that Gary's new 'training method' would be of good use they used it to sneak past the receptionist and out an emergency exit on the side of the building.

"Ok first stop Pallet Town!" Ash excitedly led the way down the path, Pikachu echoing his excitement with a few cries of his own name.

As dense as he was though, he could feel the anxiety coming off his friends, which only made him move faster. He felt that he really needed to get home. And soon.

 **I'M REALLY SORRY! I had a severe case of writers block and to be honest I'm not totally sure where this story is going because I haven't planned it out properly so I was trying to make sure there wouldn't be any plot holes but there definitely will be so we're all just gonna have to live with that unfortunately. Thank you for all the new followers and reviews! I always love your feedback and it really encourages me! I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY! I just take a while to write things that satisfy me so I can't guarantee when I'll update but I'll try to do it every fortnight from now on especially since Uni is over. NEXT CHAPTER: What happened to Paul? What is Mifune planning? What will the league do when they find out they're gone? And how long can the others keep this a secret from Ash? Find out next time! Thanks again and hopefully another update soon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Home again**

 _ **Before the others escape…**_

– _Paul's POV –_

Paul shoved the troublesome girl in the elevator before she could get in his way, the tiny girl stood with her mouth gaping but he turned around, leaving his back to her. He could hear the smaller Oak in the other room trying to wake the idiot and, before he succeeded, Paul took the opportunity to escape. He'd told them to get out and now he was under no obligation to help them further. There was no way he was travelling with them. He would go off on his own like he always did.

Since troublesome had taken the elevator Paul opted for the stairs, he was about to go down when another thought crossed his mind and he sprinted upstairs instead.

' _Now would be the perfect time to find out their plan'_ Paul thought to himself. Making familiar twists and turns he found himself in the same hallway that he had overheard the sinful plot to get them out of the way.

' _Now if I can just find the scrawny geeky one_ ' Paul went in the direction that the two men had left in earlier. Chances were that they were long gone and in a building as large as the Indigo Plateau, Paul would ever find them. But if he was being forced to go on the run, he was going to find out why.

 _Crap. Where could they have gone?_ Paul growled in frustration. How the heck was he supposed to find out what they were up to if he couldn't even find them? He ran down to the next floor, and then the next one, each time finding that neither the fat man nor the scrawny, scared man were present. With all the time he'd wasted searching he hoped the others had gotten out by now and not been caught by the ones he was looking for. He'd come all the way down to the third level before he finally struck gold.

The scrawny man with the glasses and clipboard was sneaking into one of the many rooms. Paul quickly followed behind him. He found the man standing in front of a filing cabinet, sifting through the many records it stored.

"Hey you" Paul called to the man who froze and slowly turned around.

"y-you're not supposed to be in here" the man stuttered, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"Are you?" Paul questioned, walking towards the man who backed up against the wall.

"y-yes. I- I'm a member of the pokémon league, this is a restricted area. Y-you need to leave." The man tried to sound stern but he ended his sentence with a squeak.

"I heard you and the fat old man talking" Paul said casually, like he was not bothered at all.

"I don't know what you're t-talking about" the man said faintly.

Paul, fed up with the man's stutter and with playing cat and mouse, gripped the man's shirt and held him tight against the wall.

"I _heard_ you. Looking through Ketchum's file and talking about how he's 'the one' and how you want to get rid of Lance, Cynthia and the rest of us to get to him" Paul growled dangerously.

The man simply whimpered in response and Paul shoved him again. "Talk!" he commanded.

"M-Mifune ordered me to!" The man burst out. "He asked me to find a particular file and read it for him!"

"Why? Trainer files are open to the public during tournaments and always available to the league" Paul pointed out, his grip still tight on the man's shirt.

"He didn't want to be recorded accessing the file" the man confessed. "Every time you open a trainer file it asks for a login, he didn't want Mr. Lance to know what he was doing".

"Why? What does he want? What does he mean about Ash being 'the one'?" Paul demanded.

"The kid has a price on his head! He asked me if he was the one that was wanted!" the man wailed.

"Wanted? By who? Team Rocket? Galactic? Maybe the league itself?" Paul guessed.

"I don't know! There was a photo of the kid, taken when he wasn't looking. Mifune wanted me to be sure it was him and then find out all about him!"

Paul thought this new information over. So someone was spying on the idiot? When did it start? Before or after the incident at the Lily of the Valley conference?

"Ok then. What is the fat guy planning? How does he plan to get rid of us?" Paul asked in a low tone. The man felt danger radiating off of Paul and did not answer, simply using his eyes to indicate towards the filing cabinet.

Paul let go of the man's shirt a grabbed a handful of records out of the cabinet. Paul couldn't make much sense of them, they were a diagram of some sort. No, a blueprint. This was a blueprint for a building.

"What building is this?" Paul's voice dropped to a whisper, a feeling of dread welling up inside him.

"It's a floor plan for the Indigo Plateau, headquarters for the Pokémon League" the man responded solemnly.

"And why were you after this?"

"We needed to get the boy, but with two champions and all his friends in the way Mifune had no chance of getting to him without drawing suspicion. He wanted to plant doubt in the minds of the council about Lance's leadership. We needed him out of the way." The man explained helplessly.

"What does all that mean?! What is your plan?!" Paul shouted at the man.

He did not receive an answer however as a loud _boom_ sounded and shook the room.

Paul's face paled and he turned to the small man in horror. He wasn't trying to get the blueprints, he was trying to put them _back_. "Explosives?"

"Lance saved a herd of electrode from a group of pokémon hunters the other week; he stored them here for recovery".

"You took them" Paul realized. "and left them to self detonate".

The man nodded "because it was Lance who brought them here they'll blame him".

A second _boom_ shook the room again, sending dust to fall from the ceiling. "Where did you plant the pokémon to explode?!" Paul demanded.

"Those two were by Lance's office where he and the Sinnoh champion should be" the man looked up at Paul with manic eyes "and the rest are on floor ten".

As he spoke a series of explosions went off, making the whole building tremble. "Shi-!" Paul swore which was covered by the sound of more explosions. Debris rained down from above as bits of ceiling fell.

The man slid to the floor laughing manically. "It's too late! No more champions! No more kids!"

"You'll have killed Ash too you idiot! Didn't you need him?!" Paul shouted at the man.

The man giggled. "If he's really the one they want then he should survive! That Salamance couldn't kill him right?"

Paul yelled in anger and punched the man hard in the face, knocking him unconscious. Paul could only hope that no one was still on the tenth floor when those Electrode self destructed. They were the only ones staying at the league so he shouldn't need to worry about other random casualties.

…

The whole building was in chaos. People ran all over the place, shouting instructions as others screamed. Paul dodged around them and tried to find a way to the tenth floor. Any sense of time he had was lost as he made every attempt to weave through the rush of panicked people. How long had it been since the explosions went off? A minute? An hour? Suddenly he was pulled from the confusion into an empty space.

"Cynthia?" Paul asked in disbelief.

"Paul what are you doing here? You need to get out!" Cynthia exclaimed in worry.

"b-but the explosions! You and Lance were in his office!" Paul sputtered. It was unusual for him to be in such disarray but an event like this could throw off even the most composed of persons.

"We'd already left the office we're both fine. So are the others. No one was on the tenth floor everyone's ok." Cynthia said trying to calm him.

Paul let out a relieved breath of air. He may not be friends with the group but he didn't want them to die.

"Where are they now?" he asked seriously.

"Gone I believe. Lance saw Dawn and Brock rush out the kitchen earlier. It's safe to presume they met up with Ash and the three left together?"

Paul nodded. He may not trust Lance, but Cynthia was a different matter. "The smaller Oak should be with them too." He explained.

"Gary?" Cynthia looked caught off guard. "and I don't suppose you had anything to do with them leaving after we told you that you were under league protection?"

Paul did not answer but the blonde merely smiled. "It's a good thing you ignored us then. Does Ash know?"

"No" Paul shook his head. "Oak would have made something up. He knows nothing." Paul emphasized the last word to indicate that Ash still didn't know about his aura either.

Cynthia nodded. "Ok well best you be off then too. Go find the others, you have to tell them what happened. Whoever set these off wanted to make it look like it was Lance's fault. You won't have us to help you anymore" she gave him a wistful look.

"I don't need any of _his_ help" Paul spat, still distrustful of the duo champion of foreign regions. "What about this league protection? How are you going to explain our… leaving?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the thought of having to return to a place where people were trying to kill him.

"Consider it revoked" Cynthia smirked.

"Do you have that power? This isn't Sinnoh." Paul pointed out.

"In a state of emergency, league representatives from other regions have the authority to act as they see fit in the best interest of the people" she stated in a matter of fact as if she were reading from a textbook. She gave him one last smile, worry reflected in her eyes "go on then. Only Lance and myself are aware that you're all gone. You'll have time to get away before they realize you're gone while they try to clear the debris. We'll help you the best we can by figuring out a way to cover for you, but until we sort this out, don't trust anyone."

Paul gave a short nod in response " I never do."

He turned to begin searching for an exit but not before he called back one name to her.

"Mifune."

– _Ash's POV –_

The walk home was extremely nostalgic. He remembered when he left Pallet Town at ten years old it only took him a day to reach Viridian City because a flock of Spearows had chased him and Pikachu which, naturally, makes one travel faster than average. In fact he had the bike of a certain red head to thank for his swift arrival in the next town, he grinned at the memory.

Walking back to Pallet from the League headquarters would only take a few hours as they could take shortcuts over small walls and hedges. He wasn't able to take this route when he was on his way up to Viridian as the short cut was one way only (although that never made sense to him personally as one could simply jump over the obstacles anyway but tradition stopped him from making that call the first time round).

In just a few short hours the group was walking up the last hill and at the top, the view of the whole of Pallet Town was visible. His hometown was small, the biggest building being Professor Oak's Laboratory and ranch. The rest of the town was a few scattered houses and shops. Ash lived right at the edge of town; he could already see his house from where he was standing. The sun was rising in the distance, they'd been up all night. This surprised Ash but in that moment he was too excited to worry about the time.

As much as he wanted to go home first he figured visiting his pokémon at the lab should be a priority. "C'mon guys we're almost there!" He called to the others behind him. They had moved quite quickly at the beginning, anxious to get away from the Indigo Plateau, but their energy had quickly worn out despite being veteran travelers. None of them, excluding Ash, had a chance to rest when arriving at the Plateau and their bodies were feeling the effects heavily.

"Wait up Ash!" Dawn called back, panting. Ash ignored her and skidded down the hill yelling gleefully. He waited impatiently at the bottom for the others to arrive, tapping his foot and crossing his arms. The group finally caught up with him and Dawn dramatically collapsed onto the ground. "Can we please rest now?" she begged.

"Aww c'mon Dawn! The professor's lab is just on the other side of town! It's not that far!"

"The other side of town?!" Dawn wailed "I can't walk another step Ash Ketchum!"

"It's ok Dawn we'll take a break first" Brock reassured, he sent a quick glare at Ash before he could argue and Ash took the hint and kept his complaints to himself.

"Ash's place isn't that far from here. Let's walk a little longer and then you can sit down there and get a drink" Gary suggested.

"What? Don't offer my house to other people!" Ash complained.

"What? You don't want us to go there and rest?" Gary raised an eyebrow in mock astonishment.

Ash reddened. "No! I mean yes. I mean – let's just go" he stalked off and Gary smirked.

Dawn gave him a look of awe "wow you really can work him over huh?"

"He wishes" Brock quipped and laughed heartily earning him a poisonous glare from Gary and poison jab from Croagunk who had released himself from his pokéball once again.

"Huh that's strange. Usually Croagunk only ever does that when Brock hits on a pretty girl" Dawn noted.

"Maybe he does it whenever Brock is being a creep" Gary crossed his arms, his face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"C'mon guys hurry it up!" Ash called out to them again.

The others sighed and ran up to meet him as they continued on their way to Ash's house.

…

"Wow you're house is so cute!" Dawn squealed when they'd finally arrived at their destination.

Ash shrugged; to him the house seemed normal. He supposed with its white picket fence, small vegetable garden and bright red roof it could be considered a nice house but he rarely gave it a second thought. This was home, no matter what it looked like.

He grabbed a key from under one of the potted plants out front and opened the door. The house was spotless as per usual thanks to his mother and Mr. Mime. Speaking of, where was that anno-

Ash never finished his thought as a vacuum was shoved in his face. "Wahh!"

"Mr. Mime!" a cheerful voiced cried.

"MR. MIME HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO STOP TRYING TO CLEAN ME!" Ash shouted from behind the head of the vacuum.

Mr. Mime ignored him and continued vacuuming the house while the others laughed behind him.

"Ugh. Well that's Mr. Mime if you hadn't caught that Dawn. He's my mom's pokémon. He usually helps her with all the chores and runs errands and stuff" he explained to his friend upon remembering this was her first time here.

"Shouldn't you be the one helping her though?" she asked innocently.

Gary snickered and Brock chuckled with amusement while Ash scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Mr. Mime is much better at that sort of stuff than I am and really enjoys doing it so I leave it up to him really"

"Hehe I bet when Mr. Mime first came along you were jealous cuz you thought you were being replaced" Dawn teased.

"Right again Dawn!" Gary laughed.

Ash scowled. "Whatever. The kitchen's over there, help yourself to anything you want. I'm gonna take a shower and then go to the lab". He stomped up the stairs, Pikachu leaping off his shoulder choosing to explore the kitchen and hunt for some tomato sauce rather than deal with one of Ash's tantrums.

Dawn watched after him worriedly, "do you think I made him mad?" she asked inconcern while Brock left to grab drinks for everyone.

"Nah you just hit the nail on the head" Gary reassured her and they sat down at the kitchen table to rest their tired legs.

…

Ash let the cold water pour over his aching body. Although it seemed like he had endless energy he was probably the most tired out of everyone. Sure he'd gotten a few hours sleep but it felt like it did him more harm than good. He let his hand run over his chest where his injuries were. He'd taken off his bandages to shower and seen them for the first time. His skin was a raw, angry red, like a bad burn. It hurt to the touch although the cool water helped somewhat. In some places the skin had broken and bled although those places were scabbed over by now. All in all it was a ghastly sight. He hoped that it would fade with time but he couldn't know for sure.

Turning off the tap he grabbed a towel and peeked out the door to make sure Dawn hadn't wandered upstairs and had any chance of running into him while he was indecent. Seeing the coast was clear he headed towards his room and closed the door behind him.

His room was just as he'd left it when he'd been there last, before he'd gone on his journey to Sinnoh, although it was evident that his mom (or possibly Mr. Mime) still came in once in a while to keep it clean and lived in. A new feature in his room since he was ten was the trophy shelf added to the wall. On it, shining proudly, was his orange league trophy as well as some smaller trophies he won from small pokémon competitions he'd joined on his travels and the runner up trophies he received from participating in other leagues. His badge cases were all open and standing, showing off the shiny badges inside from all his journeys so far. The display was quite impressive yet he longed for it to be filled with the championship trophy.

Opening his dresser drawer he grabbed a pair of underwear, blue jeans, and a black shirt. He'd thrown out his old bandages and didn't have any to replace them and so he decided to just go without. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that Brock would probably have more bandages and could help him put them on but he felt uncomfortable with the thought of others seeing him in that state.

Putting on his clothes made him feel nostalgic for his first journey as it was similar to his original travelling attire. He opened his closet to find his old jacket hanging and pulled it out. He'd grown significantly since then and could no longer fit the garment but he kept it for sentimental reasons. Actually he kept all his outfits but he had a certain attachment to his first one.

On a shelf above the hanging bar sat his old back packs and hats. He grabbed a familiar one with the official Pokémon league symbol on it and tried fitting it on his head. He was happy to find it still fit him quite snugly. He dropped it onto his desk where something else caught his eye. It was an old photograph of Brock, Misty and himself on their first journey together. He was the shortest back then and the two of his friends stood on either side of him, leaning on his head while he gave them an unappreciative look. His two friends were wearing happy expressions and the memory made Ash smile as he carefully put the photo back in its rightful place.

He went back to his bed where he'd laid out his jacket, hat and back pack. Picking up his jacket he gave it a quick whiff and wrinkled his nose. It needed a wash. Looking around his room he saw no other jacket that could fit his newly framed body.

' _Maybe mom has something in her room, she always buys me a new outfit when I come back home_ ' he thought to himself. Chucking the dirty clothes into his wash basket he made his way into his mom's room. It was simple, with a queen sized bed, built-in closet and bedside table. The only thing she used to make the room personal was a photo frame on her bedside table with a picture of herself and Ash at age 8. There used to be more life in this room, when his father was still around. Ash personally thought that his mom got lonely and stayed out of her room a lot of the time, choosing to do house work and gardening instead to fill her day.

He went to the closest and searched for any potential new travelling outfits. He sighed when he could see no sign of one.

"I guess she didn't buy some after all" he said disappointedly. Now he'd have to do a load of washing and wait for it to dry. He was about to close the closet doors when something caught his eye. On the top shelf was a big box.

"Hmm I've never noticed that before" he pulled it down and opened the box. Inside was a red and white jacket and matching baseball cap and backpack.

"Oh cool!" He pulled out the clothes and tried them on. They fit perfectly. He noticed that instead of being brand new as he expected, they were already quite worn out like they'd been used for travelling before.

"Maybe she got them second hand this time" he spoke aloud to himself.

"Ash! C'mon we're ready to go to Professor Oak's now!" Dawn called from downstairs interrupting his thoughts.

"Coming!" he called back. Shrugging he put the lid back on the box and returned it to the shelf deciding that his mom probably intended on giving him the outfit anyway and wouldn't mind if he took it now.

"Thanks mom!" he quietly thanked her and went to meet the others who were already halfway out the front door.

"Nice outfit Ashy boy" Gary complimented with a smirk. "You find that in the goodwill pile?"

Ash scowled "Shut up Gary. My mom got it for me."

That silenced Gary. As much as he liked to tease Ash, he'd never insult Mrs. Ketchum lest he want to beat up by Mr. Mime, all of Ash's pokémon and, of course, Ash himself. Not to mention his own grandfather who looked at Mrs. Ketchum like she were his own daughter.

"Sorry" the brunette mumbled.

Ash grinned and ran past him. "Bet I can get to the lab first!" Ash began sprinting up the road, Pikachu leapt out of Dawn's arms and chased after him.

"Get ready to lose that bet!" Gary laughed as he followed suite, quickly catching up to Ash and turning it into a head to head race.

"Wait up guys!" Dawn cried after them, she and Brock looked at each other and sighed as they too began to run after their friends.

Ash and Gary ran all the way to the lab without stopping and reached the front door at the same time.

"I * _pant pant_ * won" Ash said in between heavy breaths.

"No way Ketchum * _pant pant_ * I totally got here before you" Gary argued.

The two friends grinned at each other and waited for the other two to finally catch up. When Brock and Dawn managed to reach them Ash was leaning against the wall, arms behind his head in a relaxed position.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked casually.

Gary mirrored his feign pretense of not being exhausted and leant against the wall as well, arms crossed and eyes closed. "Yeah guys we've been waiting".

Dawn's eye twitched in annoyance "You guys ran off without us remember" walking past the two to knock on the door she spoke again with her head held high. "You mustn't have been waiting very long, I can see your sweat patches Ash."

Ash flushed and brought his arms back down while Gary chortled at his expense.

The door opened then to reveal a familiar green haired boy.

"Tracey!" Ash exclaimed, forgetting his moment of embarrassment in his happiness to see his old friend again.

"Ash! Gary! Welcome back!" Tracey grinned and stood aside to let everyone inside.

"Good to be back Trace!" Ash embraced his friend in a tight hug. "This is Dawn" he introduced the bluenette.

"Hi it's nice to meet you!" Dawn said cheerfully as she gave a small wave.

"Hi Dawn my name's Tracey. I'm Professor Oak's assistant but I used to travel with Ash and another friend of ours, Misty".

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu greeted Tracey from Ash's shoulder and held up its paw to wave.

"Hello to you too Pikachu! How are you? Keeping Ash out of trouble?" he gave Ash a teasing look which was met with rolling eyes.

"Pika Pikachu pi Pika chu" Pikachu babbled, climbing onto Ash's head and tapping him indicating who knows what since Ash was the only person who could really understand Pika-speech.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes then" Tracey laughed. He led the group to one of the sitting rooms and started preparing tea for everyone as they sat down at the coffee table. "Where are Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum? They didn't come back with you?"

Ash turned to the others, letting them be the ones to answer.

"Gramps wanted to finish off helping the league with a few more things and Mrs. K decided to stay too" Gary explained hesitantly. Ash watched the exchange between Gary and Tracey with great interest. His friends had been acting weird ever since they got to Kanto and he was seeing it again first hand.

"I see…" Tracey said after a few moments. He did not push the matter further and finished off preparing the tea and walked back to the others carrying the tea on a tray. "So Ash" Tracey began as he set steaming cups in front of everyone. "How are you?"

The underlying question was all too clear to Ash. What Tracey was really asking was 'what happened?' He was aware his Pokémon watcher friend knew him well enough that he'd be able to see straight through any lie Ash told.

"As good as anyone could be considering" Ash said taking a sip of his drink. His answer made Tracey 'hmm' in worry but Ash brushed it off, having no desire to have another conversation about the recent events.

Jumping up from his seat Ash turned to the others "well I think I'll go check on all my Pokémon then" he announced loudly. "You're welcome to come and meet them all Dawn. C'mon Pikachu". Without waiting for the others to respond he swiftly left the room and headed for the ranch, Pikachu right at his heels.

– _Tracey's POV –_

The group of four watched as Ash and Pikachu promptly left the room, the door slamming noisily behind them.

"How long has he been like that?" Tracey asked, clearing his throat at the awkward silence following Ash's exit.

"Since he woke up in the hospital basically" Brock responded, taking another sip of the tea Tracey had served. "He's been avoiding the topic as much as possible aside from league interference. He doesn't sleep well either. He thinks we haven't noticed though."

Gary grunted in disapproval earning him a bemused look from their pokémon watcher friend. "so… what _did_ happen?" Tracey asked curiously. Brock exchanged looks with Gary and Dawn, unsure whether involving yet another person with the sensitive information they had was a good idea.

Sensing that it was a relatively delicate topic Tracey decided on a different approach. "Ok so you can't tell me everything. Then at least tell me what the league wants with him".

His query raised some eyebrows to which he felt obligated to give an explanation. "You wouldn't have come back without the professor and Mrs. Ketchum without good reason. 'Professor Oak had some business to finish' that's a load of tauros crap."

He was not surprised by the stunned looks he received. As Professor Oak's personal assistant he was privy to information otherwise unavailable to the public. He knew the league was not all that it seemed. But even to the untrained eye one could see that calling Ash to the Indigo Plateau was… an unusual course of action, and the group's sudden appearance in Pallet Town without Gary's grandfather and Ash's mother was even more so.

After a moment's hesitation it was Gary who spoke "you would already know that they wanted to question Ash about the incident at the Lily of the Valley conference" Tracey nodded in confirmation, urging Gary to continue. "Well it seems that some people on the council suspect Ash of being… involved with the attack".

"Involved?" now it was Tracey's turn to look confused. "How so? He was severely injured in that attack; doesn't that prove he isn't involved?" Gary simply shrugged but Tracey suspected there was more to it than what he'd been told, after all he was a pokémon watcher and the power of observation could reveal more than one would like. "And the reason you left without the professor and Mrs. Ketchum?"

Gary actually looked guilty at the mention of his grandfather and his friend's mother. "It was decided that it would be in our best interest to leave inconspicuously".

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"The less people who know about it the better" Gary responded flicking his eyes to the door Ash just left through.

Tracey understood immediately; whatever was going on Ash was out the loop, and the reason for that was because he was in danger somehow.

"Is there anything I can do?" Tracey finally asked in a low voice.

"Help us keep our heads low 'till it all blows over?" Gary shrugged. It was true; there wasn't much they could do. If the league was after Ash there weren't many places to run. Even coming home was a risk but Tracey guessed they still had some time before it was discovered that Ash and the others were gone.

Mulling over the limited information his friends had provided and the information he'd picked up just by watching their behaviour, Tracey still couldn't paint the whole picture. He wasn't even sure they knew the whole picture themselves. In a nutshell, Ash had gotten himself in trouble again and this time it was big. The last time Ash had gotten in big trouble while he was around was the Shamouti Island incident and Arceus knows no one wanted a repeat of that.

He was shaken from his musings as the others rose from their places on the couch. "We're gonna go catch up with Ash. Heaven knows what sort of trouble he'll get himself into if we leave him by himself any longer" Brock said in a light-hearted tone which was not reflected in his eyes.

"Right. I'll be with you in a minute." Tracey said distractedly, annoyed his train of thought had been interrupted. Much like the professor, he'd picked up the habit of getting lost in thought and disrupting that process often led to bad moods.

The three trainers left to find their raven haired friend leaving Tracey to his own devices. Tracey was pretty smart, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why Ash would be in so much trouble. He'd been watching Ash's battle along with the professor and Mrs. Ketchum when the attack happened and from what he could see; Ash was just as much of a victim as everyone else.

Contemplating this Tracey switched on the television in the corner of the room, pondering whether he should watch a recording of the incident to see if he missed anything. What he saw as soon as the monitor flickered to life however, stopped him in his tracks.

" _This is channel 47 Kanto News reporting. Late yesterday evening the Indigo Plateau was victim to a series of explosions caused by a herd of Electrode."_

Tracey gaped at the television and quickly grabbed the remote to turn up the volume. A woman in a professional looking business suit and glasses was standing in front of what used to be the pristine Indigo Plateau – headquarters of the Kanto Pokémon League. Now it was smoking and pieces of the building were missing. In the background, league agents were running around tending to injured and trying to clean up the debris.

" _Sources tell us that the locations of the explosions were targeted at our own champion's office as well as the entire tenth floor which hosted the guest rooms. No deaths have been reported but several are injured and there is substantial damage to the building itself."_

Tracey's eyebrows furrowed in worry, no deaths recorded but injury was still a concern. What about the professor? And Mrs. Ketchum? The woman on the screen continued her report, Tracey absorbing every word.

" _It appears that a group of young trainers were staying on the tenth floor for reasons unknown and thus far have not been found. It is not known if they could be trapped under the rubble of the tenth floor."_

This surprised Tracey despite Gary's insinuation that they left inconspicuously. So they really didn't know at all.

" _Included in the list of missing trainers is our very own Professor Oak's grandson, Gary Oak. Gary is well known in the trainer world as well as for being one of our youngest leading researchers specializing in ancient pokémon. He was also reported as friends with the other missing trainers. Professor Oak, present at the time of the explosions, refused to comment on the incident but we can say with relief that he in uninjured."_

Tracey sighed in relief. At least he was ok.

" _The other missing trainers have been identified as Brock Harrison, former Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, Dawn Berlitz, a Sinnoh native from Twinleaf Town and a well known co-ordinator, and Paul Shinji, another Sinnoh native and a recent participant of the Sinnoh league which was also placed under attack last week during the semi finals match. Paul's opponent in that match, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, is also among the list of the missing."_

As each of their names were said a picture was shown. The photo's only seemed to emphasize how young they were.

" _League agents and rescue operations are working their hardest to recover the trainers from under the rubble, all praying that they are safe and can return home soon."_

The woman went on to describe the attack on the Sinnoh league and theorized how they may be connected but there was no one to listen as Tracey raced out the lab to find the 'missing trainers'.

– _Ash's POV –_

Ash ran silently and did not stop until he reached his favourite hill with the giant oak tree. Once he arrived at the top he took a deep breath and sat down turning his head to look up at the clear blue sky. He wasn't sure why, but he felt suffocated when he was in the lab surrounded by everyone.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu had followed him to his resting place and was sitting at his feet looking at him in concern.

"Hey Pikachu" Ash smiled and held out his hand for Pikachu to climb. Pikachu did not budge from his spot.

"Pikapi" Pikachu said its name for Ash in a disapproving tone.

"Ahh c'mon Pikachu, I didn't want to stay in that stuffy lab and answer questions" Ash pulled his hat over his head to cover his eyes and lay back fully so that he was lying down.

"There's nothing more to tell" he said, more to himself than to Pikachu.

Suddenly thinking it was far too quiet, Ash spoke his thoughts aloud, "I wonder where everyone is? Usually everyone would've found me by now and I'd be crushed under a huge pile of pok-" unfortunately he never finished his sentence as it was drowned out by many different cries and screeches.

Looking down at the bottom of the hill, Ash saw a stampede consisting of all his old pokémon heading straight for him. Leading the pack was none other than his overly affectionate Bayleef.

"BAY BAY!" Bayleef cried as it bounced on him full force, followed by a mix of his other pokémon.

"Bayleef! I'm happy to see you guys too but I CAN'T BREATHE!" Ash managed to wheeze out from the bottom of the ever growing pile.

Bayleef begrudgingly removed itself from atop his chest and allowed him to sit up. Ash reached out his hand and cupped Bayleef's face gently, rubbing in slow circles. Bayleef sighed into his caress, happy that its master had returned.

Ash looked around him, excluding his herd of Tauros, everyone had gathered to greet their trainer.

"Hey guys how've you all been? Keeping out of trouble I hope?" he asked cheerfully and was met by a chorus of happy grunts, growls, and purrs in what he hoped were confirmation for his question.

Ash laughed merrily as he reached out to pet each one of his pokémon, Pikachu following his lead and greeting its fellow pokémon with an excited wave of its paw.

"Oh right you haven't met our new friends yet!" Ash said suddenly remembering his current team. With a swift flick of his wrists he released Infernape, Staraptor, Torterra, Buizel and Gliscor.

"Everyone these are our new friends, say hello!" he gestured to the Sinnoh natives. Bulbasaur, being the most civil of his pokémon, was the first to introduce itself, extending its vine in greeting. The other pokémon quickly followed suit. Ash laughed as Buizel was almost consumed by a happy 'hug' from his Muk.

Noticing that Ash had not budged from his spot on the hill, even when greeting his pokémon, Pikachu cautiously crept toward it's trainer and gently sniffed at his chest in concern, wondering if his injuries were still bothering him.

The other pokémon observed Pikachu's actions. Still unaware of the ordeal their trainer had been through. Bayleef, quickly sensing something was not quite right with its master, promptly followed Pikachu's actions and began sniffing at his chest. Ash pushed her head away earning himself a gentle nip on his fingers.

"I'm fine Bayleef it's nothing" he said hastily, inwardly cursing Pikachu for drawing attention to the matter.

"Pikapi Pikachu pi pika chu pi" Pikachu scolded Ash using its paws to indicate that the others should know.

Sighing at an unwinnable argument Ash began to strip himself of his jacket and then t-shirt. The small gasps from each of his pokémon were enough to indicate that the sight they were met with was displeasing at the very least.

"Bay" Bayleef whimpered and licked his cheek softy.

"I'm ok it doesn't hurt much anymore" Ash said quietly, pulling his shirt back on but vetoing the jacket and instead simply drawing his knees to his chest for warmth.

The pokémon exchanged looks of worry, usually Ash was very active and cheerful even if he got sick or injured he was always ready to train and keep moving forward but now…

"Hey Ash!" a voice called from the bottom of the hill.

Ash looked up and saw Gary, Brock, and Dawn waving at him from the bottom of the hill, Dawn had her hands cupped around her mouth in order to holler to him.

Keeping up appearances Ash quickly jumped up, grabbing his jacket along the way, and sprinted down the hill closely followed by each and every one of his pokémon.

Dawn's eyes practically popped out her head upon seeing the vast selection of pokémon in Ash's possession.

"Wow these are all your pokémon Ash?" She gasped in awe.

"Yup!" Ash said proudly. "Well actually I also have a herd of Tauros in one of the paddocks, Squirtle joined the firefighting squad, Charizard is still training in the Charcific valley of course and I have a few other friends who've gone their own ways." He confessed rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Dawn's jaw dropped and Ash laughed at her expression. He always loved showing off how many pokémon he actually owned. Most people he met on each journey assumed he only owned the pokémon he had on him at the time, in actuality he had caught well over 60 pokémon. Had he chosen to switch some of his older pokémon into his teams during his later journeys he may well have won a league tournament already. Of course, Ash did not like doing things that way.

"I'd love to see you battle with one of your older pokémon!" Dawn said excitedly, clapping her hands together.

Ash perked up at her request. He hadn't battled since he was on the boat with Cynthia and they never even got to finish.

"Ok!" He grinned "I accept your challenge Dawn!"

"Wait a moment!" Gary interrupted making Ash frown.

"What Gary? Don't worry we won't mess up the field that much! Please I haven't battled in ages!" Ash hardly liked begging his old friend and once greatest rival but he really wanted this battle.

Gary smirked and pulled out a pokéball of his own. "That's not the problem, I want to be the one to battle you Ash".

The two boys looked at each other with fire in their eyes while Dawn pouted. "No fair! I asked him first!"

"I'll battle you afterwards Dawn" Ash promised sending her an apologetic smile "I haven't battled Gary in forever and I'd really like to see how we've each improved since last time".

Dawn, though still annoyed, nodded in understanding. At least she could watch the battle.

Brock took the opportunity to remind everyone he still existed, "I'll be the referee! Just like good ol' times" he winked at Ash and Ash grinned.

Ash and Gary took a few more steps away from each other to make space for a real battle. "Hurry up Ash and choose your pokémon!" Gary called to him from the opposing side, already in a battle stance, ball at the ready.

Ash thought carefully as all his pokémon clamored to be chosen for the battle.

"You said you wanted to see one of my older pokémon battle right Dawn? I have the perfect one then" Ash smirked. "Bulbasaur I choose you!"

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cheered and ran onto the makeshift field. Ash's other pokémon whined in disappointment and begrudgingly stood on the sidelines to watch.

"Finally! I've been wanting to try out this pokémon on you Ash" Gary teased and released his pokémon.

Light burst from the ball as he released it and formed into a grey, flying type pokémon that Ash recognized easily.

"Arooo!" The Areodactyl screeched, setting its steely eyes on Bulbasaur down below.

"Areodactyl?!" Dawn gasped in shock and was only further confused by Brock bursting out into a fit of laughter as Ash cowered where he stood. "What's so funny Brock?" she huffed in annoyance.

Brock wiped a tear from his eye "When I first travelled with Ash, he sort of got kidnapped by an Areodactyl that tried to eat him after he accidentally woke it up" he explained.

Dawn blinked in apprehension. "No way." She said flatly, turning to Ash to hear him deny it for sure. To her surprise, Ash was only glaring at the Areodactyl and made no move to deny Brock's outrageous claims.

When he did open his mouth to speak it was not to refute Brock's story. "I thought you couldn't remember that cuz Jigglypuff put everyone to sleep?" Ash said in an accusing tone.

Gary grinned, "A certain friend of yours came by the lab a while ago. He claimed he had a rare photograph of an ancient pokémon and showed me a picture of you getting carried off by that big chicken! You should have seen his face though when I showed him my Areodactyl." Gary was almost bent over with laughter.

Ash turned bright red at the memory "Todd was here?" he squeaked.

"He certainly was! And he was kind enough to let me keep the photo!" Gary poked his tongue out teasingly as steam came out Ash's ears.

"Ok, ok, you guys can solve this on the battle field!" Brock said, quelling any potential fight. Gary and Ash positioned themselves ready for battle once again.

"This will be a one on one battle between Bulbasaur and Areodactyl. No time limit! Begin!" Brock announced, waving his arm down urging the trainers to start.

"Bulbasaur use razor leaf!" Ash called immediately, thrusting his arm out in command.

Bulbasaur shot out a series of sharp leaves directed at Areodactyl who swiftly dodged them without instruction.

"Areodactyl use steel wing!" Gary commanded.

With unbelievable speed Areodactyl raced toward Bulbasaur with its wings glowing a bright white which Bulbasaur barely managed to dodge.

"Again Areodactyl!" Gary called.

"Use vine whip to jump!" Ash countered as Areodactyl tried for a second attempt. Bulbasaur shot out its vines and struck the ground hard, using the momentum to launch itself into the air.

"Now use leech seed!" Ash yelled fiercely.

Still in midair, a seed burst from the bulb on the grass pokémon's back and hit Areodactyl head on. Areodactyl screeched as vines began to wrap around its body and suck energy from it.

"Areodactyl use razor claw to break out of those vines!" Gary urged. Areodactyl scratched away at the energy-sapping vines until they were completely shredded.

"Not bad Gary" Ash complimented, his eye's burning fiercely with challenge.

"You too. I see you're still using some of your old techniques" Gary noted, the same burn reflected in his own eyes.

"Old techniques?" Dawn asked turning to Brock inquisitively.

"Ash has a few signature techniques that he used a lot in the old days. One of them was using his pokémons tails or moves to launch themselves in the air to dodge. It's kinda similar to your spinning dodge technique" Brock explained.

"I see! That's actually really smart!" Dawn marveled.

Ash fell anime style upon overhearing their conversation. "You don't have to act so surprised!" he yelled to her before turning his attention back to the battle.

"Bulbasaur use vinewhip!" he ordered to which Bulbasaur immediately obeyed. Long vines, shot from Bulbasaurs body toward Areodactyl who once again swiftly evaded them.

"My flying pokémon has the advantage over your little grass pokémon Ash! You should know that by now!" Gary chastised from his side of the battle field.

"Advantage isn't everything Gary! You should know _that_ by now!" Ash retorted. "Bulbasaur use vinewhip to jump!"

"That won't work twice Ashy boy! Huh?!" Gary stopped his banter, watching in shock as Bulbasaur landed on top of Areodactyl.

"Now use your vines to attach yourself to Areodactyl!" Ash called out triumphantly.

"What?! Areodactyl shake that Bulbasaur off!" Gary shouted in irritation. He'd been caught off guard.

Try as it might, Areodactyl just couldn't shake off Bulbasaur when it had its vines wrapped around it.

"Now charge up your Solarbeam Bulbasaur!"

"Oh crap" Gary mumbled. "Areodactyl do whatever you can to shake off Bulbasaur!" he cried desperately.

Ash was ecstatic. He hadn't had a battle this close with Gary since they faced off in the Johto league. Bulbasaur's bulb was gathering as much sunlight and was almost ready to launch its solar beam. Just before he could give the command Areodactyl managed to wrap its teeth around one of Bulbasaur's vines and bite down hard.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried out in pain and accidentally launched its solar beam early; completely missing Areodactyl and losing any chance of a one hit knock out like Ash was hoping. Bulbasaur fell from its perch on Areodactyl's back and landed on the ground hard taking on substantial damage.

Ash's plan had completely backfired. "Dammit!" he said under his breath, gritting his teeth. Before either of them could recover Gary called out his next attack.

"Hyperbeam!"

The world stopped. Flashbacks to the Lily of the Valley Conference plagued Ash's mind as he stared in horror at the bright orange light emerging from the mouth of the flying type.

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur called to its trainer, asking for its next command, should it dodge or fight back? But received no answer. Ash could not hear its cries and instead and dropped to his knees. Bulbasaur dodged the attack on its own, the attack harmlessly hitting the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

Ash could not breathe. He was completely unaware of what was happening around him and instead was concentrating on trying not to empty the contents of his stomach.

"Aww crap" Gary cursed and quickly returned Areodactyl, the battle abandoned. "Ash I'm sorry! I forgot – I mean I didn't realize! I mean – are you okay?!" Gary had knelt down next to Ash and was trying to shake his shoulders.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Ash could hear his friends calling his name, he was dimply aware one of them was in front of him currently trying to shake him out of whatever was happening. But he didn't care. All he really knew was his chest _hurt_ and he couldn't breathe.

"I think he's hyperventilating! He's having a panic attack!" He heard someone call out worriedly. A panic attack? Huh. Hadn't had one of those since… well he really couldn't think when he'd ever had one.

Those were his last thoughts before his mind went blank and he fell forward into someone's arms.

– _Gary's POV –_

"Aww crap" Gary cursed and quickly returned his Areodactyl. How the hell could he do that to Ash after everything that had happened? Dammit.

He rushed over to his friend who'd collapsed onto his knees. His pokémon were all trying to rush over to him too but Dawn and Brock were trying to quell their alarm and give Ash the space he needed. Bulbasaur had also abandoned the battle and was trying to stop the others from crushing Ash in a desperate attempt to go to him although Gary could see it constantly looking back at its trainer in worry. Pikachu was the exception and had rushed over to Ash as soon as the attack in question had launched, seemingly knowing in advance the consequences.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried in worry, shaking one of his knees.

Gary also knelt down, putting his hands on Ash's shoulders and looking into his eyes desperately but only receiving a blank stare in return. "Ash I'm sorry! I forgot – I mean I didn't realize! I mean – are you okay?!"

Ash did not respond. His breathing was shallow and erratic, at one point he'd begun clutching at his chest. "Ash? Ash!" Gary called to him again and again, shaking his shoulders to no prevail.

"I think he's hyperventilating! He's having a panic attack!" Brock called from where he stood, keeping the pokémon at bay.

"Panic attack?" Gary mouthed barely making a sound. Ash seemed to dimly hear that last sentence, letting Gary know he was at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, before he promptly fell forward into Gary's waiting arms.

"Ash!"

"Pikapi!"

"Let's take him inside!" Dawn said worriedly, having left the pokémon once Ash had collapsed and returning to where they were. Gary nodded and hefted Ash up onto his back; he was heavier than he remembered, but then again, the last time he'd given Ash a piggy back was back before they'd even left on their first journeys.

Slowly, with Brock and Dawn standing at his sides making sure Ash didn't fall off and the Pokémon clearing a path whilst creating a vanguard for them, Gary carried Ash all the way back to the lab.

Tracey was already at the door to meet them although it looked like it wasn't because he'd heard what'd happened, but rather was about to come out for another reason.

"Hey guys! I just saw- what the heck happened to him?" Tracey asked in shock.

"Later." Was all Gary muttered, pushing past him and gently laying Ash down on the nearest couch.

His pokémon had to wait outside as there was not enough room for all of them, but they'd let Pikachu be their representative as the rest looked on through the small windows.

"Pikapi" Pikachu whispered, teary eyed, as it settled itself into a spot by Ash's head protectively.

"What the hell happened?!" Tracey demanded.

Dawn and Brock turned to gaze sadly at Gary who looked away in shame.

"They were just having a pokémon battle…" Dawn began softly. Tracey turned to listen to the small bluenette while Gary tightened his hands into fists. "Areodactyl and Bulbasaur. It was going good, Ash was doing well. But…" she trailed off, looking at their unconscious friend.

"But?" Tracey encouraged, waiting for the end of the story.

"But I ordered Areodactyl to use Hyperbeam." Gary cut in, spitting out the words in anger. "The same attack that was used on him in the Sinnoh league. The same attack that put him in a coma for three days and gave him those injuries. I used that attack on him, my best friend." He'd clenched his fists so tight that his fingernails had dug into his skin and he was now bleeding.

"Gary you didn't mean-" Dawn tried gently but Gary cut her off once more.

"No! I should've known better! Who wouldn't have a panic attack seeing the same attack that could have killed them?! Ash is already hurt and has already been through so much and I've gone ahead and made things worse! I'm such an idiot!" He punched the wall in anger, feeling something crack in his hand.

"Ouch!" he hissed and clutched his hand.

Brock sighed. "Calm down Gary it's not your fault. Now give me your hand" Brock tried to take his hand and inspect it but Gary jerked It away.

"I'm fine. I deserve it." He looked away again in disgrace.

Brock rolled his eyes and forcefully took his hand again. "It _wasn't_ your fault" he repeated, while inspecting Gary's injured hand. "You didn't mean for this to happen and Ash wouldn't want you beating yourself up, literally". Brock clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You may have cracked a knuckle but I'll need to x-ray it for sure. For now I'll just bandage it up."

Brock walked over to his backpack which lay by the coffee table where he'd left it and dug around until he fished out a roll of bandages. He began wrapping Gary's hand whose attention was solely focused on Ash. He didn't care about his hand. Or whether he could or should be forgiven. All he cared about in that moment was his friend.

"Actually I was about to go outside to tell you guys something else…" Tracey piped up hesitantly.

Gary ignored him, not caring what he had to say right at that moment.

It was Dawn who asked what he wanted to say.

"The Indigo league was bombed."

 _That_ grabbed Gary's attention. Even Brock stopped bandaging his hand, looking at the Pokémon watcher in shock.

"…what?" Gary whispered.

"I was watching the news" Tracey explained slowly, his expression cautious. "They said that there were some explosions at the Indigo Plateau after you guys left".

"Was anyone hurt? What about Gramps and Mrs K?!" Gary demanded jumping up onto his feet and grabbing Tracey by the collar, irritating his newly injured hand.

"Gary sit back down I need to finish wrapping your hand!" Brock ordered, pulling him by his shirt and forcing him to take his seat.

Tracey, slightly shaken up by Gary's confrontation, brushed himself off and continued. "They're both fine. There were some injuries but no deaths recorded. The explosions seemed to be focused on the area you guys were supposed to be staying" Tracey waited as the other three took this information in.

"So… they were after us?" Dawn whispered fearfully.

Tracey nodded "It seems so. So far they haven't realized you're all gone. They think all of you are buried in the rubble but it won't be long before they realize you're missing and who knows what they'll do then".

"So everyone thinks we might be dead?" Brock summed up, putting the last finishing touches on Gary's bandages.

"They think we're dead?!" Dawn gasped.

"Not yet! They're still looking for you right?" Tracey said trying to calm down the small girl.

"No this could be to our advantage." Gary said thoughtfully; now back into his master strategist mode.

"What do you mean" Tracey asked confused.

"You know we haven't told you everything and we won't, for you safety, but basically we need to get away from the league for a while. You can see why" Gary explained, silence following as each one of them thought of the consequences had they not left when they did.

"If they're busy trying to find us there then we still have time. We need to leave, this is going to be the first place they look" Gary said, already planning what he'd need for a long journey.

"Where can we go? What are we supposed to do when no one can help us?" Dawn asked anxiously.

"No need to worry Dawn!" Brock said smiling, "I think I know someone who can help."

"Who?" Gary asked curiously.

"You should know Gary" Brock wagged his finger, "Who else could we turn to for help? We're going to Cerulean city!"

 **Sorry guys haven't had internet the past few weeks! Hopefully the next chapter will be up over the next couple days if the internet holds up :/ From now on the only promise I'm making is that I'm gonna finish the story, wish I could promise set updates but we all know my track record for that is awful. Thank you for all the reviews, favourites, and follows, as well as for sticking with me this long! I hope this chapter satisfies you because it certainly doesn't satisfy me. I could not figure out how to work Misty in there without it being way too long.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Companions**

– _No one's POV –_

The man in the orange suit leaned back in his chair and took a puff of his cigar. The glow from the embers threw dim light onto his face, making his appearance all the more intimidating.

"Well?" he asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

An agent, who'd been standing in front of the man's desk waiting silently to give his report, gulped before answering.

"Sir, we've received intel from our undercover agents. Our plan failed, sir." The agent stood completely still and upright, afraid to move even an inch for fear of angering his boss who was well known for taking bad news well… badly.

The man in the orange suit took another deep puff. "and the boy?"

"Escaped sir" the agent said hoarsely.

"I see. Well what did we learn? I hope that our time and resources were not… wasted on this effort" with every word the man stroked a Persian, which appeared out of nowhere to his side.

Sweat began to bead on the agent's forehead as his eyes widened at the sight of the large cat. "the… the boy's trainer file, proved difficult to decipher at first. Some of his info had been put under restricted access but with our technology we were able to bypass the security measures."

"and? What did we learn?" the man repeated the question.

The agent then pulled out a folder he'd been tightly holding and threw it onto the desk which the man reached out and grabbed. The folder contained a printed version of the trainer file he'd wanted. The first page included basic information as well as a typical ID photo that was required of all registered trainers. The photo was a simple head shot of a smiling, raven haired boy with lightning shaped marks on his cheeks. Looking at the photo attached to the file he compared it to another that one of his other agents had taken of the one they were searching for. The same photo he'd also given to his assets on the inside. The photo was taken at the recent Lily of the Valley conference, during the attack they'd launched on the league. In the photo, the silhouette of a boy could be seen amidst a glowing blue light. Although the picture was blurry, it appeared to be the same boy as the one in the profile he held in his hand.

"So, he is the one. His file proves quite… interesting. It seems he's been quite the thorn in our side for a while now." The man observed as he flipped through the pages slowly.

"Yes sir. Although we could not retain all his information sir" the agent admitted.

"I thought you said our technology was able to decipher all his information?" the man glared, his Persian began to hiss beside him and bared its sharp teeth.

The agent flinched at the threat "Yes sir it was, but his file was incomplete. Even the league does not have the information sir."

"And what information would that be?" the man asked intrigued.

"His past sir. Before he became a trainer, there was no record of an Ash Ketchum living in Kanto. There are some blanks in his journey logs too sir, periods of time that are unaccounted for."

The man lent his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together, resting his chin on top. "I see, it appears there's an even greater mystery to Mr. Ketchum than I originally thought" he mused. Turning his chair so that the agent could no longer see his face he spoke again, "bring him to me, and prepare the tests".

"Yes sir!" the agent saluted and quickly exited the room, the door banging loudly behind him.

The man stared at the photo still in his hand and narrowed his eyes.

"Rooow Row?" His Persian purred rubbing its head underneath his remaining free hand.

"I believe the tests will show us some good results if the boy is connected to _that_ man" the man sneered evilly before scrunching up the photo with his fist.

– _Paul's POV –_

Paul was _not_ enjoying his stay in Kanto thus far. He had always wanted to visit; the region had cool pokémon, and a lot of famous people he was interested in meeting, not to mention it was home to the official Pokémon league headquarters. Sinnoh had its own league of course, but none of the other regions could really match up to Kanto's league which was the first to be established and therefore, inherently the best.

Unfortunately for him because of a certain hat-wearing, Pikachu owning, super powered, _idiot_ he was currently trekking through Route 1 trying to find his way to Pallet Town where he hoped he could find the others.

In the past he'd probably have chosen to simply leave, go back home to Sinnoh and train until they started the Lily of the Valley Conference again. But there was no way in hell that he was gonna let that runt get captured and killed before he got a chance to properly defeat him in battle.

Now that he'd learnt of Ash's past achievements and true abilities, Paul was keen to test himself against his real strength. Particularly against that Charizard of his that he'd read about; according to his trainer file, Charizard was Ash's strongest pokémon in terms of fire power (no pun intended).

But he couldn't have that battle if he couldn't find the stupid trainer in question. Route 1 was supposed to be an easy path for beginning trainers and Paul was having trouble. How humiliating. He blamed it on having to waste time hiding from league agents and emergency services that passed him, but in truth?

He was just really bad with directions.

It was a secret that shamed him to his very core. He was good at traveling really, but more often than not he'd get himself turned around. The only reason that he managed to stay ahead of Ash in terms of travel time was because he used his pokémon as modes of transportation and only had to worry about himself while his rival had a group and travelled on foot the whole way.

After what seemed like forever, Paul emerged from the long, confusing, and totally hard route (something Paul thought was a completely apt and honest description of the path he was currently travelling) and found himself at the top of a hill, gazing over Pallet Town.

He immediately headed for what he assumed was Professor Oak's laboratory. If Ash was anywhere, he would he there.

He knocked on the door and waited impatiently. It opened a few moments later and Paul found himself facing a young man wearing a green t-shirt and red headband.

"Can I help you?" the young man asked, seemingly surprised to find someone on his doorstep.

"I'm looking for Professor Oak's lab, is this it?" Paul grunted.

The man narrowed his eyes, "Yes, the Professor is away at the moment. I'm his assistant. What business do you have here?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm not here for the Professor, I'm looking for a trainer named Ash Ketchum, he's a goofy looking kid with a Pikachu. He would've been with a group of other train-"

"What do you want with Ash?" the young man interrupted, his face now flashing anger and weariness.

"Tch. Relax. My name's Paul Shinji, I was Ash's opponent in the Sinnoh League when _it_ happened. I'm not here to hurt him."

The man looked him up and down but seemed to recognize him, or at least his name, and then visibly relaxed. "My name is Tracey Sketchit, I'm a friend of Ash's. You'd better come inside." He said, standing aside to let Paul in.

"Whatever." Paul brushed past him and put his hands in his pockets. "So? Where is he?"

"Ash isn't here" Tracey shrugged.

"What?! Shit. Then where the heck is he?" Paul demanded, outraged he walked all this way for nothing.

Tracey raised his eyebrows "Dawn was right about that wicked tongue of yours although to be honest I wasn't sure she was speaking about language at first" he winked while Paul burned bright red, whether from anger or embarrassment he didn't know and honestly didn't really want to find out if it meant having an internal battle in his mind right now. "He was here earlier with Brock and the others; I assume you know them too?" Tracey looked to him for confirmation and Paul nodded. "They all left a short while ago".

"Where to?" Paul sighed, deciding that where ever it was, he'd need to fly to catch up to them.

"Cerulean City".

 _ **A few hours earlier…**_

– _Dawn's POV –_

"We're going to Cerulean city!"

Dawn wasn't sure what kind of reaction Brock was expecting but it certainly surprised her.

Tracey broke into an even bigger grin than the one he greeted them with when they first arrived and Gary resumed his trademark smirk, the notion seemingly having resolved all his worries.

"Umm what's in Cerulean city?" She spoke up, not wanting to be out of the loop.

"Not what, WHO" Brock corrected wagging a finger.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but played along "Okay _who_ is in Cerulean city?"

The three boys shared a look of both happiness and weariness, then turned to her all at once and said "Misty."

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu piped up, reminding everyone that he was still present.

The name rung a bell in the back of her mind. "You mean the one you guys used to travel with?" she recalled, remembering that before she met her current companions, they used to travel with someone else.

"The very same!" Brock nodded.

"Not to mention she's Ash's-" Gary began before being cut off from a quick slap to the head from Brock who'd moved to his side in an instant.

"Your jealousy was showing" Brock shrugged when the brunette glared at him.

"Hey I'm an injured guy here!" Gary protested, showing his bandaged hand to emphasize his point.

"Yeah and I'll make sure you stay injured if you don't shut up for two seconds" Brock warned. Gary gulped and stayed quiet, perhaps for the first time ever.

Tracey leaned in to Dawn and spoke quietly "you know for a doctor Brock can be very scary". She nodded in agreement.

"Anyway about Misty!" Brock cheerfully turned back to the two, who both sweat dropped at his quick change of attitude.

"She was our travelling companion on our first journey throughout Kanto, in fact she met Ash before I did" Brock explained.

"Really? So she and Ash travelled together alone before they met you?" She asked surprised; imagine 10 year old Ash Ketchum travelling alone with a _girl_. Then again, Ash was so dense that he probably never realized what situation he was in.

"Well you couldn't really say they were travelling _together_ , more like Misty was following him around for a while" Brock chuckled at the memory.

"Following him? Why? Weren't they friends?" Dawn creased her eyebrows in confusion.

"It all has to do with how they met. But you can ask for that story from Misty, it's much more entertaining from her perspective" Brock cheerfully answered. "At any rate, she's the leader at the Cerulean GYM so she should be able to help us out".

"She's a GYM leader?" Dawn echoed quite impressed. Ash really did have friends in high places. Sure she's not a champion like Cynthia or Lance, but she didn't have any GYM leader friends herself (she didn't count Brock since he was an ex-GYM leader and technically Candice was Zoey's friend).

"Not only is she a GYM leader but she's also one of Cerulean's Sensational Sisters!" Tracey helpfully added.

"Sensational Sisters? Oh I've heard of them! They're all models and actresses and performers right? Violet, Lily, and Daisy!" Dawn had read about them in her many fashion magazines. She used to blow through her allowance to buy as many as she could find and the three were featured quite often.

"Yep they're her older sisters. Misty is pretty different from them though. They're not as interested in running the GYM as she is. Daisy helps out sometimes but she's still pretty busy with all the tours they go on." Tracey said with a mildly dejected look on his face.

"Wow imagine being a sister to those three that would be just like super awesome!" Dawn sighed, her eyes shining in envy.

Brock and Tracey exchanged looks and laughed. "Misty would disagree. She gets stuck with most of the hard work. She's a great GYM leader though, thanks to her the Cerulean GYM is one of the toughest GYMs in the Kanto region." Tracey said proudly, his chest puffing up.

"Yep that Misty is one of a kind, now how about we actually get going to see her?" Gary said exasperatedly.

"Right!"the other three chorused together.

" Should we wake up Ash?" Dawn asked hesitantly. She was unsure what one was supposed to do with a person who'd just suffered from a panic attack and fainted. Were they supposed to wake them up? or was it like that sleep walking thing where you weren't supposed to disturb them? If they can't wake him could they move him? Questions whirled around her head and she looked to the older trainer for answers.

"Ash hasn't gotten a lot of sleep lately, I think it's best we let him rest for now" Brock explained, glancing at the young trainer who was still unconscious on the couch. "I have some sleep powder in my med kit, I'll give him some so he can hopefully have a peaceful sleep" he added, obviously thinking of the last time Ash had tried to sleep.

"Pi chu Pikapi" Pikachu nodded in agreement tapping Ash's forehead fondly with the tip of his tail which Dawn supposed meant he approved of Brock's idea.

"You sure? Won't he think it's weird that he fell asleep in his hometown and woke up in Cerulean city?" Tracey pointed out.

"Ash never liked to stay in one place too long. He would've been itching to leave here by tomorrow anyway." Gary assured, waving away Tracey's concern.

"Well how are we going to get to Cerulean city with a sleeping Ash? None of us can carry him all the way there and we don't have a pokémon that can take all of us." Dawn asked as she thought of all the pokémon they had in their possession. They had a few that could fly but not for very long and she'd never tried flying on her pokémon before. Plus someone would have to ride with Ash to hold him and what if he fell? A shiver went down her spine as she imagined an unconscious Ash falling to the earth from high in the sky.

"I have the answer to that right here!" Gary said proudly holding up something small in his hand.

"A key?" Dawn observed curiously.

"You still use that thing?" Brock asked in surprise at the same time that Tracey exclaimed "that's _yours_?!"

Gary held his nose high in the air "It's been a while since I used it since I decided to travel on foot for a while and then since I began my research I haven't needed it so Gramps said I could keep it here but it's been taken good care of and it's perfect for what we need!" He said in an ostentatious tone.

"What's perfect?" Dawn huffed, not liking being left out the loop.

"I'll show you" Gary winked and began to lead them down the hallway. He opened a door and walked down a couple steps before switching on a light. He'd led them to the garage which was empty save for a car shaped (duh) object hidden beneath a large piece of tarp.

"This" Gary paused for effect as he clutched the corner off the tarp "is how we're getting to Cerulean." With that he ripped the tarp away and Dawn finally saw what Gary was being so grandiose about.

A gleaming, sporty, red convertible was sitting in the middle of the garage, just screaming that the owner of the car was extravagant (or rather pompous) and rich. Gary, always the type to try to look cool, leaned against the hood with his eyes closed and used the car keys to unlock the convertible with a _'beep beep!'_.

"Well what do you think?" Gary asked, clearly waiting for praise.

"You were a spoilt child" Dawn stated very matter of factly.

Gary fell anime style while Brock and Tracey were in tears from laughter.

"I'll have you know I was a perfectly well behaved child and was rewarded for being so! Actually I got this car thanks to Ashy boy!" Gary sniffed.

"Really? I never heard that before" Brock commented.

"That's because he doesn't know it" Gary sniggered "it would kill him if he did. See Gramps and I made a bet when I first left of my journey that if Ash hadn't caught even one pokémon by the time he got to Viridian City, he'd give me a million dollars!"

"No way. For real? Who'd make a bet like that?!" Dawn asked appalled at the thought that such high stakes would be gambled for such a trivial thing.

"I don't know why Gramps would gamble on Ashy boy when he's a total idiot but hey I got a cool car out of it so I'm not complaining" Gary shrugged with his trademark smirk "besides it turned out to be pretty useful for us now!"

Dawn couldn't disagree with that. The car would definitely be a lot faster and Ash could rest in the back seat.

"I wish I could go with you guys but someone has to stay to look after the pokémon" Tracey said with a sigh of disappointment and wistfulness.

Brock put a hand on his shoulder "you've done more than enough. Thanks a lot Tracey you really helped a lot." The older trainer said gratefully which Tracey returned with a smile.

"You could be more help in the future" Gary spoke up making Tracey look towards him. "We'll need to be able to swap our pokémon a lot, but the league can stop us from doing that normally so I want to use the UTS".

"The UTS? But that's just an experiment that the Professor has been working on, we've only got the prototype it's not actually running yet!" Tracey argued.

"It'll have to do. Don't worry I'm confident in my Gramps skills. I've looked over his notes and I think it'll be ok. Plus Bill worked on it too right? That guy is a genius who invented the first transporter system so if he's in on it then I'm liking our chances"

"Umm what's the UTS?" Dawn asked. Brock also turned curiously for the answer not having understood what the two researchers in training were talking about.

"The UTS stands for the Underground Trading System. The Professor and Bill, the famous researcher, have been working on it for a while. The idea was to trade your pokémon for another pokémon without knowing anything about it. Kind of like a lucky dip. It was supposed to be a way to get new kinds of pokémon so trainers could test their skill against training pokémon they know nothing about." Tracey explained.

"Well how will that help with transferring pokémon?" Dawn asked, not quite following their train of thought.

"The system is still a work in progress" Gary was the one to speak this time "they have a prototype set up which means it's not yet registered with the league and therefore they can't track us if we want to switch our pokémon like they would be able to if we used the regular transfer system. Since we'd be the only ones using it, we know exactly which pokémon we'll get." When Gary spoke like this, he actually sounded rather intelligent. ' _Just like a real researcher'_ Dawn thought to herself.

"How will we know sorry?" She asked embarrassed that she wasn't listening clearly.

"Well usually when you put your pokémon in, it would go into a big pool of pokémon that other trainers have put up for trade, and the system would randomly select one from the pool which would be your new pokémon. But since it's just a prototype and we'll be the only one's using it, the pool will only be made up of two pokémon, the one I'm putting in, and the one I'll be receiving. So I can put in one of my pokémon that I'm carrying, and Tracey can put in one of my pokémon from here, and I'll know that those two will swap for sure." Gary clarified calmly, not at all deterred by her lack of understanding the first time.

"But if it's supposed to be a trading system, how can you trade with yourself?" Brock pointed out.

"That's the beauty of this new system Brock. It's _new_. It hasn't been programmed to recognize a change in trainer ownership yet. Right now all it can do is swap one pokémon from one place, with another pokémon in another place. Really at the moment it _is_ just a transfer system rather than a trading system" Gary smirked once more, quite satisfied with his plan.

"So now we'll be able to swap our pokémon without the league knowing where we are or what we're doing!" Brock realized happily.

"But my other pokémon and Brock's other pokémon aren't here at the lab so how will we get our other pokémon if we need them?" Dawn asked, worried that she wouldn't be able to make use of the brilliant system.

"I can link the system up to other computers, I'll be able to connect it to Brock's home and to Professor Rowen's lab" Tracey offered.

"Can we trust Professor Rowen?" Gary asked seriously. Dawn nodded in response. She was sure that Professor Rowen would understand their situation and help them.

"Ok I'll send them a message and let them know, it'll be encrypted so the league won't know of our plan either. While I'm at it I'll send word to the Cerulean GYM about your arrival, I was due to call a while ago anyway. " Tracey said with a sort of faraway look on his face and left to find a computer.

"Due to call? Do you call them ofte- hey!" Tracey had already swept out the door before Dawn could finish asking her question which left her wondering just how often Tracey contacted the water pokémon trainer. At any rate they appeared to be quite close.

"Hey guys how are Tracey and Misty connected?" Dawn asked the two boys, still staring after the poke watcher.

"Tracey said he travelled with Ash before right? Well back then Misty was still travelling with Ash too. Nowadays Tracey makes frequent visits to Cerulean City. They're pretty close." Gary said quite happily while Brock simply sighed at his attitude.

"You're enjoying this far too much you know" he reprimanded the brunette.

Gary ignored the older trainer and walked lightly to the door, cheerfully spinning his keys around his finger. "I'll go get Ash, you guys make sure you're ready!"

Dawn turned to Brock one last time, "you sure about this?"

Brock did not smile but stared hard at the floor, "right now it's the best move we have".

– _Misty's POV –_

Misty stretched her limbs and yawned, she had just defeated another young trainer who was seeking the Cascade badge. He used his Nidorino and Beedrill against her Corsola and Goldeen. He managed to beat her Goldeen but Corsola made quick work against both his pokémon. He was quite good, he had all the right instincts but tended to get a little carried away and forget basic strategy. He reminded her of a certain raven haired trainer, who had the tendency to be pretty dense too.

"You guys did a good job today you deserve a good rest!" She praised her pokémon who after taking some potion, swam off to play with the other pokémon in the pool.

Misty watched after them smiling for a moment before sighing and pushing herself up, there was still a lot of work to do. They need to get lunch ready for all the pokémon and then they'd need to clean the tanks.

"Hey Daisy!" Misty called out, attempting to find her eldest sister so she could ask her to do her share of the work, "Daisy where are you?"

The blonde appeared from around the corner and gracefully skipped toward her younger sister.

"Like what's up Misty?" She sang with the heart winning smile which made her famous.

"Can you help me get the pokémon food? We also have to clean the tanks today and you promised to help me, it's a lot of work for just one person and the GYM apprentices all have the week off." Misty pleaded, hoping that for once Daisy wouldn't bail on her.

"Oh don't worry about that stuff little sis" Daisy said waving her hand as if she were also waving all the work away.

Misty sweat dropped and hung her head, of course Daisy would go back on her promise. Now she'd have to ask the GYM apprentices to come in on their week off to help her out. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice that Daisy was still talking.

"Sorry what did you say?" Misty shook her head, turning her attention back to her sister.

"I said the boys can take care of it!" Daisy said, now checking out her flawless nails for any (non-existent) imperfections.

"The boys?" Misty echoed, not understanding.

"Tracey called earlier and said something about visiting so the boys can take care of it" Daisy said with a finger in the air as if she came up with the idea herself.

"Tracey's coming to visit?" Misty said, her mood perking up immediately at the news.

"Yeah and like he's bringing some other people" Daisy said nonchalantly.

"Others? Like who?" Misty furrowed her eyebrows, unable to think of who Tracey could be bringing, maybe Gary?

She heard the sound of a car screeching to a stop outside "sounds like they're here!" Daisy said cheerfully and went to the front door to greet them.

Misty followed closely behind curiously, keen to find out who the mystery guests would be. They were not who she was expecting at all.

"Brock!" She exclaimed in surprise as the older boy was the first to enter the GYM.

"It's good to see you again Misty" he smiled and wrapped her in a quick hug.

"Good to see you too Brock. What are you doing here?" She asked trying to peer around him to see who else had come along. She spotted a young girl with blue hair in a black and pink dress with a matching hat and boots shyly standing off to the side.

Walking over to her Misty held out her hand "Hi I'm Misty!"

The girl smiled and shook her outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you Misty I'm Dawn." Dawn gave her a curious look and cocked her head slightly "you know I feel like I've seen you somewhere before…"

Misty sweat dropped and hoped she hadn't seen that magazine article her sisters forced her into doing which included a rather risqué photo of her clad in only a skimpy bikini (something not usually to her taste but her sisters had picked out especially for the shoot). Rationalizing that the article probably hadn't made it all the way to Sinnoh she gave the girl a big smile and continued before she began to think her as daft for taking so long to respond. "Dawn? Oh I've heard all about you! If you and Brock are here then does that mean-"

"Pikachupi!"

Misty broke into a wide smile and kneeled down in time to catch the tiny yellow pokémon who'd run into her arms.

"Pikachu! I missed you so much!" She laughed and hugged it tight.

"Pika Pikachu Pipipi!" Pikachu cooed nuzzling into her shoulder.

"Hey guys I think you're kinda forgetting the reason why we're here in the first place!" another voice spoke from the back of the pack.

Misty looked up and her jaw dropped in shock at the sight of Gary Oak carrying an unconscious Ash on his back. "Ash!" She immediately stood up and ran over to the pair. "what happened?!" She asked in a panicked tone, wondering just what sort of craziness Ash had to have gotten involved in this time to justify the group travelling all the way to Cerulean when he should be in the Sinnoh region for the conference there.

"Don't worry he's just asleep" Brock reassured, coming over to help relieve some of the weight from Gary. "For now do you have somewhere we can put him down?"

"He can stay in one of our waiting rooms follow me" Daisy spoke up who, for once, was not the centre of attention.

She led the group of trainers down the aquarium-like halls to a waiting room where Brock and Gary quickly lay Ash down on a couch.

"I'll grab him a blanket" Daisy offered and left the room, leaving Misty alone with the three remaining conscious trainers.

"So" she began and crossed her arms, "start talking."

– _Ash's POV_ –

Ash was awake although he didn't open his eyes straight away. Once his mind had cleared enough for coherent thought the first thing to pop into his mind was that he actually slept. No nightmares at all. He hadn't felt this well rested since before the Lily of the Valley conference started. He was quite enjoying the feeling and was considering just dozing right off again when he suddenly felt an ominous presence hovering just above him.

Ash wearily opened his eyes to see a face peering down at him.

"Wah! Brock! What the hell are you doing?!" he yelped in surprise.

"Language!" Dawn scolded from across the room.

"Sorry Ash, I saw you waking up and I was just trying to check up on you!" Brock said sheepishly. "So how are you feeling?"

"Uhh ok I guess. What happened again?" Ash asked scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"Well you sort of fainted during your battle with Gary" Brock admitted shooting a glance at the brunette who was sitting on a chair across the room.

"I did? Sorry about that Gary! I guess I was more tired than I thought!" Ash laughed apologetically. Gary did not respond however and instead clenched his fists. It was at that point that Ash noticed the bandages.

"Hey what happened to your hand?"

"Nothing" Gary mumbled, turning away and crossing his arms in a broody fashion.

Ash narrowed his eyes and turned back to Brock instead "what'd he do to his hand?"

"He punched a wall" Brock shrugged.

"Brock" Gary growled in warning which Brock ignored.

"What? Gary why'd you do something stupid like that? I thought researchers were supposed to be smart" Ash teased, sticking out his tongue.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't know many pokémon masters who can't finish a battle because they faint like a little baby." Gary retorted haughtily. Ash flashed with anger and turned away from his supposed best friend with a huff. He missed the look of guilt on Gary's face and the looks of understanding and sympathy that his other friend's offered him.

Deciding that Gary must be in one of his moods that revert him back to his previous jerky self , Ash turned to the other two, after something about the scene they were in came to his attention.

"Uhh how long was I out? Please don't tell me I've been in a coma again." Ash sweat dropped after taking in his surroundings. He was in an unfamiliar room, lying on a couch with a blanket over him.

"Well… it wasn't THAT long… a couple hours… you would've woken up sooner but you looked so tired so Brock used some sleeping powder that he had on hand and well…" Dawn explained helplessly with a _very_ forced expression.

Ash looked at the three suspiciously "Okay… then where exactly am I?"

His answer came in the form an angry, red headed girl barging through the door.

"YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW ASH KETCHUM!"

 _Sorry guys! Been a long time. I've put up two chapters to make up for it though! Hope they satisfy you!_


	10. Chapter 10

_**STOP! I posted 2 chapters this week! If the last thing you read was Brock announcing they're on their way to Cerulean city then GO BACK A CHAPTER!**_

 **Chapter 10: See how they run**

– _Lance's POV –_

Looking at the huge pile of paper work he had to go through Lance sighed. The attack on the league was devastating. While there were no casualties, injuries were in abundance and the rescue team had just discovered that the kids bodies were nowhere to be found which meant that they were not in the building when the explosion occurred. This both relieved and worried him.

Mifune had immediately put out that the children were dangerous, part of the evil teams who attacked the Sinnoh league and now their own league and unfortunately he had gained some important supporters.

Lance was able to hold them off for now with a hasty explaination that the kids must've gotten out and were in hiding because they were scared, perhaps they were even captured and that they should send out a search and rescue party. That sort of thing always took time. Time and paperwork. He hoped it was enough for Ash and the others to finish whatever it was they were doing.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in" he called out.

Cynthia entered the room with serious look on her face.

"Ahh Cynthia. Take a seat." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk, the seat that one of Ash's friends had occupied only the day before. It felt like weeks ago that they had that interview not simply one day.

"Thank you" she accepted his offer and sat down gracefully.

"So pray tell, what do you know about the kids location right about now?" Lance inquired.

Cynthia smiled "what's to tell?"

Lance sighed "c'mon Cynthia. We don't have time to play games. I know that it's dangerous for the kids to be with the league but do you really think they're safer out there alone?"

She pulled her lips into a thin line "one can't be sure of anything. But I trust those kids. They are true trainers and they have what it takes." She said confidently.

Lance groaned. Now really wasn't the time for the whole 'a trainer only needs to follow his heart' spiel.

"Cynthia, for whatever reason, Ash can use the power of Aura and that makes him dangerous to himself and to others. What's worse is that two of the world's largest criminal organisations are after him and the even the Pokémon league can't be trusted."

"Exactly! We _can't_ be trusted. If we had kept Ash here how long do you think before they attacked again? At least on the run they're as clueless about his whereabouts as we are." The Sinnoh champion argued. "Besides I've sent someone to help." She added.

Lance raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Who?"

She simply smiled mysteriously. "Someone who can help Ash become who he needs to be."

– _Ash's POV –_

"YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash simply stared at the fiery redhead his mouth gaping open like a fish.

"Uhhh Misty?" he uttered her name flabbergasted at the familiar sight of his angry best friend.

"Oh remembered me have you? Took you a while" she huffed and turned away crossing her arms.

"wha? Why are-? Where-?" Ash wasn't sure which question to ask first and helplessly turned to his other friends for help.

Gary, who looked to be quite enjoying the scene chuckled but said nothing while Dawn simply shrugged and looked just as confused as he felt. Desperately he turned to Brock, who would surely have the answers he sought.

Brock raised his eyebrows and gave him a look that Ash recognized as disapproval. "I hear it's been a while since you guys have talked" Brock hinted to which Ash gulped and turned nervously towards Misty once more.

"Heh heh well I'd been meaning to call…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and tried laughing it off but quickly silenced himself when Misty threw a glare at him that could scare off a Garyados.

"Oh you'd been meaning to have you? I suppose that makes it all fine and dandy then doesn't it?" Misty spat still fuming. "How long has it been? I think the last time I heard from you was just after you met up with Dawn here? " she gestured to the bluenette who tried to make herself look smaller as if balling herself up could keep her out of range of Misty's wrath.

Ash flinched and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry Mist" he spoke softly using his nickname for her, she shoulders softened slightly and he secretly smirked knowing that it was a weakness of hers. One step closer to reconciliation. "Everything just got so busy and well…" he trailed off, hoping that a vague explanation would be good enough for her.

It wasn't.

"You didn't even call me to let me know you entered the Lily of the Valley conference" she said flatly.

"You watched it?" He said perking up, glad she was at least keeping up with his adventure albeit from media coverage rather than his own regaling.

"I missed the last match. Had a GYM battle at the same time." she said leaving an awkward tension in the air.

"Oh. Right."

There was an awkward silence as Ash tried to figure out how much Misty actually knew, he tried catching Brock's eye to see if he filled her in on the recent events but before he could Dawn suddenly interrupted with a realization of her own.

"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed drawing peculiar looks from everyone within the room. She flushed with embarrassment. "sorry. But I just realized where I've seen you before Misty!" she said, eyes shining.

Misty immediately flushed bright red "that article was a onetime thing I'd never wear something like that normal-"

"Umm what are you talking about?" Dawn interrupted with a confused expression.

"Oh nothing!" Misty waved off a little too quickly.

"Well I haven't seen you in any articles, although I have seen your sisters many times, no actually it was Ash!" She said as if it explained everything.

"What?"Misty looked at Ash who had the same look of puzzlement on his face.

"Ash has this little thing he carries arou- mmph mmphh!" Ash had leapt off the couch and thrown his hand over the bluenette's mouth giving her the hardest glare he could muster.

"That's enough" he spoke gruffly.

"Ash!" Misty scolded "Let her go that is so rude!"

"But Mist you don't understand!" Ash pleaded, his hand still covering Dawn's mouth as she struggled behind it.

"Don't make me take out my mallet" she threatened lowly.

Ash gulped and reluctantly removed his hand in defeat.

"What I was _trying_ to say was that Ash carries this little lure thingy around, you know for fishing? Anyway it looks just like you! I've only seen it a couple times but he won't let anyone else touch it" she finally managed quite smugly.

"Hahahahahaha! Well well Ashy boy, a bit sentimental are we? " Gary teased from his perch against the wall. "This is good stuff Dawn" he praised her lightly and ruffled her hair "what other secrets about Ashy boy do you know" he asked curiously.

"Shut up Gary!" Ash growled.

Misty on the other hand looked in a much better mood, although a light blush was evident on her cheeks. "So you kept the lure I gave you?" she said with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah but a fat load of use it was. Your face is so scary it scared away all the pokémon" Ash said nonchalantly closing his eyes and resting his arms behind his head in a very Gary-like fashion.

Of course this made him totally unaware of the impending danger he just put himself in.

"Scary huh?" Misty repeated, hiding her face behind her hair.

"Yeah I mean what pokémon wants to bite at a lure that has your face on it hahahaha right Brock? Uhhh Brock?" Ash waited for his friends to join in his laughter but all three of them had retreated to the back corner of the room. Even Pikachu had joined them and all of them look quite frightened.

"Guys what's with the faces?" Ash asked rather annoyed.

"Well they're probably just _scared_ is all" Misty growled behind him. Ash gulped. Oh no.

 _WHACK!_

Ash had stars in his eyes and Pidgey circling his head after Misty pulled out her infamous mallet and gave him a classic Misty Mash.

"Serves you right Ash Ketchum!" Misty huffed and stormed out the room.

Ash quickly recovered from his newly gained injury and rubbed his head. "Gee you think she'd have let me off a little after everything" he grumbled.

"Actually Ash I think she was quite worried about you" Brock added in a suspiciously pleased tone.

"We told her about what happened at the Sinnoh league, she hadn't heard that it was you that was injured. She doesn't seem to watch the news often unless they're showcasing one of your battles. Since she thought she missed yours and that the league had been temporarily put on hiatus she figured you were just training until it resumed again. " Dawn put in helpfully giving him a kind smile.

"Yeah yeah we get it Misty's not made of stone now does anyone know what article she was talking about?" Gary asked while furiously scrolling through his phone in a desperate attempt to find the potentially embarrassing blackmail he could use in the future.

Both Brock and Dawn sighed while Ash and Pikachu looked at each other in confusion.

– _Misty's POV –_

"Stupid Ash" Misty grumbled and she stormed through the aquarium-like hallways of the GYM. She walked to the main pool, the one she used for GYM battles and for training, and called for all her pokémon.

"Azu!" Azurill chirped and jumped out the pool, hopping toward her trainer obediently.

"Hi Azurill" Misty smiled and picked up the tiny blue pokémon. Azurill was quickly followed by her other pokémon, although Goldeen, Horsea, and Garyados resigned to staying in the pool.

"Hey guys! Guess what, Ash is back." She said softly rubbing Azurill's head.

"Cor Corsola!" Corsola twittered happily in recognition of the name. Staryu, Starmie, Horse, Goldeen and Politoed echoed Colsola's happy tweets.

"Azu?" Azurill twitched its ears, and gave Misty a questioning look.

"Oh right you've only met Ash a couple times haven't you Azurill?" Misty remembered. "Ash is my friend, we used to travel together. I told you stories about our adventures remember?" She explained much like a mother would to her child.

"Azu azurill!" Azurill nodded in confirmation.

"See you remember!" Misty said happily and praised her pokémon with a scratch behind its large ears. "Well he's back now, he got hurt. Brock, Dawn, and Gary told me some very strange things that happened but I guess I shouldn't be surprised when it comes to Ash. He attracts trouble like metal to a Magnemite. Aura huh…" she trailed off with a faraway look in her eyes.

"zurill?" Azurill nudged her hand as she'd stopped petting it's head.

"Sorry Azurill" she cooed and slowly placed her on the ground. She stood up and clenched her hand into a fist in a sign of her determination. "Okay guys we're not letting this opportunity pass us up! Ash needs our help. And we're going to give it. So I'm going to travel again. I can't take all of you with me, and I'm sure Daisy will want to keep a few of you here for GYM battles while I'm gone. You guys make sure she doesn't shirk her GYM leader responsibilities while I'm gone ok? Now let's see who should I take…"

Misty was pondering her potential roster when Daisy called to her from another room. "Misty! Like you better come here!"

Misty frowned at the tone of her voice. ' _This can't be good'_ she thought to herself.

She walked in the direction of her sister's voice, where she was standing with her arms crossed in the lobby facing a man and a woman whom Misty did not recognise.

"What's this about?" She asked, her defences going up, she suddenly wished she hadn't left her pokémon in the other room.

"Are you Misty Waterflower, the GYM leader here?" the man asked.

"Yes I'm Misty, _one_ of the GYM leaders" she emphasized the one and indicated to her older sister, annoyed that they'd ignored her. Although Misty was now the main GYM leader, Daisy and (although less so) even Violet and Lily did their part as Cerulean's GYM leaders.

"We need to speak to you about your previous traveling companions by the names of Ash Ketchum and Brock Harrison, we also have questions regarding Gary Oak, Dawn Berlitz, and Paul Shinji." The man spoke again giving no indication he'd even heard her quip about not being the only GYM leader.

"Why do you want to ask questions about them?" Misty asked, giving a quick glace to Daisy with hoping she'd get her message and warn the others before they were discovered.

"They are impertinent in an investigation regarding the bombing at the Indigo Plateau yesterday evening. What exactly is your relationship to the aforementioned trainers?"

Misty narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Who exactly are you guys?"

"We're representatives of the League. Answer the question miss" the man barked.

"No I don't think I will. Get out of my GYM." Misty demanded angrily. Who did these people think they were barging in here and demanding answers to questions?

"Do you know where Ash Ketchum and the other aforementioned trainers are currently?" the man ignored her and continued interrogating her.

"Didn't you hear me? I said get out!" Misty all but shouted. Hearing her distress, some of her pokémon had rushed into the lobby, prepared to battle to defend their trainer.

The man exchanged looks with the woman who nodded her head. "We will return with further questions and a warrant" the man warned then turned to follow the woman who'd already left.

Misty sighed in relief. "Thanks guys" she said gratefully to her pokémon.

Her pokémon each cried out their name in response which she took as a chorus of 'you're welcome!' in Poké-language.

"Misty!" Misty looked up to see Brock running down the hallway toward her with a worried expression on his face, he was quickly followed by Daisy.

"What's going on? Daisy said there were people looking for us?"

"Yeah a man and a woman. They said they were from the league but I don't trust that. They could be from Team Galactic or Team Rocket" Misty mulled over the scene in her head.

"What did they want?" Brock asked.

"They wanted to know what my relationship with each of you was and if I knew where you were. They also asked about a guy named Paul?"

"Paul is Ash's rival in Sinnoh and was the one he was battling when they attacked the league. He knows as much as we do about the whole situation" Brock explained.

Ahh. So he knew about Ash as well.

"Right. Well I suppose it's no longer safe to stay here then. League or not we can't let Ash be found yet. Cynthia told you guys to run so that's what we'll do" Misty said determinedly.

"You're leaving?" Daisy asked worriedly.

"Don't worry Daisy" Misty gave her a quick hug. "Take care of the GYM while I'm gone ok? Don't let Lily and Violet slack off either. If anyone asks where I've gone tell them I'm off training. Everyone knows it's my goal to be a water pokémon master so it shouldn't surprise anyone that I'd be training for that. In fact people had been expecting me to leave Cerulean and pursue my goal earlier anyway."

Misty felt her explanation for her absence was good. No one had told her to stay at the GYM, and with this excuse her sister's lack of knowledge of her whereabouts would be excusable.

"What will we tell Ash?" Brock asked, glancing down the hallway as if worried Ash would hear their conversation.

"We'll tell him the same thing. We'll say I want to train and travel around from place to place until they decide to restart the Lily of the Valley conference. He won't question that. You know how he is; he loves any excuse to be travelling and training."

Brock nodded "That should work. At least for now anyway. We better leave while we can, who knows when they'll be back. You get ready and meet us in the waiting room. I'll explain everything to Ash and we'll tell the other two the plan when he's out of earshot."

Misty nodded in agreement. She quickly selected a few of her pokémon to take with her and returned them to their pokéballs , although she picked up Azurill to carry in her arms since she was so used to carrying around a pokémon even after Togepi, _'Togetic_ ' she mentally corrected herself, left. She rushed into her room to grab her old knapsack and threw a few essentials into it. Then she ran back to the waiting room where the others were.

When she entered Brock was giving an explanation about Misty's 'plans' to travel with them which received an enthusiastic response from Ash and confused ones from Dawn and Gary who, luckily, had the sense to just go along with it.

"Let's leave right now!" Ash jumped up grabbing his backpack and motioning for Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder.

The electric mouse leapt onto his shoulder with an excited "pika!' but turned toward Misty when his trainer wasn't looking and gave a serious look which gave Misty a feeling that it knew exactly what they were doing. She wouldn't put it past Pikachu to have heard every word with its long and highly functioning ears.

Brock was quietly whispering to the other two in the corner so Misty took it upon herself to distract Ash.

"C'mon Ash I'll race you outside!" she challenged.

"You're on Mist!" he laughed and they raced out the door.

Misty smiled to herself. Ash was acting like his old self. You wouldn't know what kind of battle he was fighting inside if you didn't really know him. It saddened her that the carefree boy she once knew was being pushed into growing up like this. She silently swore that she'd do anything and everything to protect him.

As they exited the GYM Ash jumped around with his hands in the air "I won! That's another victory for Ash Ketchum; Pokémon Master!" he hollered and whooped.

Misty shook her head, typical Ash. He hadn't grown up after all.

"Hey isn't that Gary's car?" Ash asked out of the blue, pointing towards the red convertible.

"Yeah well they didn't wanna carry you did they?"

Ash decided to take this as an insult and stuck out his tongue. "I can't believe he still has this thing. You really can't beat travelling the open road on foot! He would've missed so much cuz he drove everywhere!"

"Is that why he managed to get 10 badges compared to your 8 in the indigo league way back when?" Misty arched an eyebrow.

Ash scowled "that was totally unnecessary he was just showing off!"

Misty laughed. Classic Ash.

"Well I think we'll be using this thing for a while yet, I wanna go somewhere far." Misty said, a light bulb going off in her head.

"Really where?" Ash perked up at the thought of a new adventure.

"Fancy taking a return trip to Johto?" Misty suggested.

 _Sorry for taking so long to update! I currently have no internet access. Have not given up. Never will. Please be patient!_ _Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! Your support keeps me going!_


End file.
